The Dark Waltz
by MechenManachewagan
Summary: The world is edging closer to complete damnation. Ancient titans clash, each seeking to embed their vision into the world. Naruto is unexpectedly thrust into the middle of an old order only known as "The Ancients". Will the world ever find peace?
1. Chapter 1 The Legend Begins

"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge." –Albert Einstein

---Prologue---

A tall man with long flowing silver hair could be seen slowly making his way down a garbage filled street. A large black cloak billowed about him in the late night breeze.

The night was silent, save for the soft tap of his shoes as he marched quietly down the degraded road. There was nothing left in this part of the world to disrupt the peaceful passing of time.

They had seen to that.

The tall man stopped in front of an old brick building. Looking up, he could see the still flickering neon sign, flashing the word 'Vacancy' on the small inn. Walking up to the door, he carefully stepped over the refuse rotting in the gutter.

The building itself was relatively clean, albeit a little shoddy. The tiles on the floor had long since been stained by blood that had been shed. But it made no difference to the tall man. This day was no different from the others.

He made his way through the entrance and towards the bar that was located in the back. Walking past the bar, a bright blue colored string of some fashion appeared from within his cloak and picked up a bottle labeled 'Tullamore Dew', and a tumbler off the bar. Without saying a word, he sat down at a small table in the middle of the bar and poured himself a tall glass of the strong Irish whiskey. Taking a deep draught of the inebriating liquid, he withdrew a small black leather bound book out from the folds of his cloak and began writing.

_Amaranth's Journal March 7__th__ 1953_

_I had the chance today to meet with the man who is arguably one of the greatest minds that this world ever produced. The mortal known as Albert Einstein was truly an amazing man. It saddened me that the order for destruction came through. But I feel that his words may have struck a deep cord with Mephistopheles. He has not been the same since he heard the man speak. He told us_

'_A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty'._

_I admit, I was more than a little confused on what his meaning was. But he assured us that at some point in time, the two of us would come to an understanding and that maybe then this feeble battle will finally end._

_With the death of the Russian leader, Stalin, two days prior, the USA and the remnants of the Soviet Union have launched an all out nuclear holocaust. I suppose we should be thankful to the two countries, they certainly have made our jobs easier. When I asked Einstein if he, like his associate Oppenheimer, regrets his decision to create this super weapon, he merely answered:_

_"The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking... The solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I would have become a watchmaker."_

The man would have continued to write, but a slightly shorter man with long black hair and a bloodied rapier walked through the door. He wore an ensemble similar to the man at the table.

He walked up to the silver haired man,

"We're running late enough as it is Amaranth, you know the Lord's orders, we don't have time to sit here and mull over the words of a now dead mortal man."

The silver haired man, Amaranth, silently stood and placed the small book into a pocket of his cloak.

"Well then, Mephistopheles, let us finish this blood bath. I grow weary of this slaughter. I wish to take a long rest when this is finished."

The black haired man laughed,

"Rest? It has been nearly eighteen millennia since we began doing this and we have yet to have a break, what makes you believe that we will have one now? As long as these mortals are free to choose their own paths, they will always fall into darkness. So why would you ever believe that another world won't turn out the exact same way as all the others?"

Amaranth sighed,

"Because this is the last one left…"

-- The Dark Waltz---

A tall chuunin stood in front of a large rambunctious class of academy students. He was trying valiantly to finish a lecture, but with summer rapidly approaching the students were rebelling. Finally losing his cool, he yelled to the class,

"Sit down and shut up, you only have 5 minutes before you have to leave!"

Seeing the students finally calm down, he started passing around a stack of papers.

"Take one paper and pass the stack. On it is the outline of your homework assignment. I want you all to write a short, one page essay. Today we started talking about 'The Ancients' and the role that they played in the wars that ended about 50 years ago. Now, a lot of the older citizens in Konoha were around back then, so for your assignment I want you to go find one and ask them what they remember about what they remember about them."

Looking around, he could see that the classroom full of ten year old prospective ninjas were less than thrilled to have an assignment for the weekend. He smiled to himself,

'This should get their attention'

"The student with the best essay will receive a complete new set of kunai and shuriken for the upcoming exams."

The class broke out in excited chatter as the students began bragging about how they would surely write the best essay and win the prize. The chuunin broke into a small smile thinking about how easy it was to get the kids to follow orders, by just offering a small gift.

The loud bell that signaled the end of the school day broke through the chattering. Students fled quickly from their chairs, eager to escape from the daily boredom of school.

The exhausted teacher in the front of the room sat down behind his desk with a groan. Looking over, he could just see the last three students walking calmly out the door.

The first two were young boys, each with dark black hair than stuck up in the back; they were escorting their slightly older cousin. She was just turning eleven and had dark pink hair that hung pin straight down to her waist. She wore a bright red dress with a white circle on the back. Her name was Haruno Hananosei*, she was the heir to the powerful Haruno clan; she was also his brightest student.

The three children quickly made their way down the crowded streets towards the clan's compound. The people of the streets shifted slightly to allow the heir enough room to walk by. Many people even bowed their heads slightly in a show of respect.

The pink haired girl shook her head.

"It's pathetic how they show me so much respect for something that I didn't even do."

Her cousins turned their heads to look at her, as if they were confused by what she was talking about.

Hananosei palmed her face. She loved her two younger cousins dearly, but they weren't always the sharpest knives in the drawer. The two were identical twins, the older one, was named Akihiko*, while they younger one was name Akio.

"They treat me as if I was the one who saved the village, not Baa-sama. I haven't done anything to help or hinder any of them, but they still seem to follow my every move as if I were a walking saint. It's sickening…"

The two black haired children just shook their heads as they heard their cousin go off on another rant about how stupid the village as a whole was. They had heard it all before.

After a short walk, they finally found themselves at the gate to the large compound. The guard at the door bowed his head slightly as he opened the door. The three walked into the main garden that lay just inside the entryway. Hananosei turned to her cousins, I'm going to go find Obaa-san and ask her about those old people that we're supposed to learn about. Why don't you two try to find some others and see what they remember.

Her cousins nodded their heads and went their separate ways in search of a clan elder that may remember something about the Ancients. Hananosei walked across the garden and into the main building of the complex. This large expansive building housed the family's nobility. In other words, it housed her immediate family.

She made her way through the pristine corridors. Polished wood floors were gleaming in the light that streamed through the intermittent windows. She could hear her mother in some room nearby as she chatted with someone. Finally she reached the end of the long hallway and emerged into a smaller, more isolated garden. This one belonged only to the head family, more importantly it belonged to her grandmother. The rumor was that when her grandmother first had the compound built, it was actually built around this small swatch of land.

In the far corner stood a towering willow tree, its long vine like leaves swaying lightly in the afternoon winds. A small artificial stream ran through the middle of the grounds, feeding into a small koi pond. Along the western bank of the stream there was a small field of rose bushes, that come the end of summer, would bear bright orange flowers. Near the koi pond there was a small cherry tree in full bloom. On a small stone bench near the water's edge, on old woman in a light pink kimono sat quietly, staring absentmindedly at the falling petals.

Hananosei broke into a bright smile and ran towards the aging woman,

"Obaa-san!" She yelled happily, as she ran up and engulfed the elderly woman in a great hug.

The old woman was startled out of her reverie by the loud noise. After seeing who was making the loud racket, she smiled softly and returned the hug to the young girl.

"Hananosei, you aren't skipping out of class again are you? You know how angry your father gets when you skip and try to hide in my garden"

The young girl laughed,

"No Obaa-san, class is done for today. So I came to see you."

The elderly woman smiled and kissed the younger girls brow.

"Well I'm happy to see you here. It's always nice to be visited by such a beautiful young child. It always brightens my day"

Hananosei smiled and sat down on the bench next to her grandmother.

"I have an assignment for school that I was hoping you would be able to help me with Obaa-san."

The grandmother smiled.

"What kind of assignment could you possibly need my help for? You know I'm far too old to help you to train to be a kunoichi."

The younger girl laughed.

"Maybe, but I doubt that. I happen to know for a fact that father is still afraid of what you can do."

The old lady laughed,

"He's only scared of me because he remembers me as his mother, not because of anything I can do."

The young girl shrugged her shoulders.

"Well whatever the case may be, I could really use your help with this essay."

The grandmother looked over to the koi pond as she threw a few bread crumbs to the fish that were swimming about.

"Oh? And what kind of essay do you need this old woman's help with?"

Hananosei smiled as she pulled the paper that her sensei had given the class out.

"Well we're starting a new subject in our history class, and we're going to be learning about some old warriors from when you were younger. So Sensei is having each of us try to find someone to interview someone. Whoever writes the best essay gets a brand new set of shuriken and kunai."

The old woman laughed lightly.

"So this is very important then."

The younger girl nodded her head seriously.

"Of course it is. Everyone knows that Sensei's family runs the weapons shop, so they're bound to be good kunai."

The grandmother nodded her head.

"I see, so what's the essay on then?"

The young girl looked down at the paper.

"Well, do you remember a group that was called 'The Ancients'?"

"Leporello, Dante, Orpheo, Ramdas, Sapho, and…Amarius…"

She said the last name in almost a whisper.

The younger child smiled brightly.

"So you know who they are then?" She was obviously excited at the prospect of finding someone who actually knew what her Sensei wanted.

The grandmother however was not smiling, in fact she looked rather melancholy.

"I remember them very well, but if you want to hear their full story as far as I know it, you're going to need more than just this evening to hear it."

The girl nodded her head.

"That's fine Obaa-san, the paper isn't due till Monday anyways, so I have all weekend to hear the story and write the paper"

The old lady nodded her head.

"Well then, the story as far as I know it, started with a young child named Naruto, nearly 60 years ago…"

--Konoha Spring 984---

A young child was lying deathly. Around him was a bare cement walled tunnel, lit only by strange blue pipes that ran alongside the tunnel.

With a small groan, the blonde haired boy opened his eyes and sat up slowly. He was holding his head, trying to stop the incessant pounding he could still feel resonating off his skull. Looking around him, he tried to figure out where he had been dumped this time.

Seeing the bare walls and the ankle deep water had pooled through most of the tunnels he thought to himself,

'_Looks like the sewer again…'_

He stood up slowly, and tried to wipe some of the dried blood off his face.

'_At least those stupid villagers are gone now…'_ Was the sad thought that worked its way through the child's mind.

The young blonde slowly worked his way down the small flooded corridor. The dim lighting wasn't helping his precarious situation. The only light that was in this particular section of sewer seemed to come from the odd pipes on the wall. The pipes were a strange blue color. They ducked and weaved all around the tunnel, like a deranged spider's web.

As he examined the walls and pipes he realized that there were a multitude of pipes of various sizes that meandered all around the multitude different passageways.

It was odd to him that he had never seen this particular section of sewer before. He prided himself for knowing much that lied in the belly of Konoha. The solitude the underground networks provided for him welcomed reprieve from many of the people above the ground.

He didn't particularly hate the villagers; he just wasn't fond of most of them. Being the village pariah wasn't the most loved position, but at least it got him noticed.

He continued walking for what seemed like ages, although time was impossible to tell. No one had ever taken the time to teach the poor boy how to read a clock, and there wasn't any light down in the tunnels for him to tell if it was even day or night.

He almost missed the small ebony door that was hidden by a massive pipe. It was the pipe that caught his interest in the first place, it was easily three times the size of all the other pipes, and it glowed exceptionally bright in comparison to the rest of the pipes. The pipe itself went through the ceiling just above the door, almost as if it continued towards something on the other side.

He turned his attention back to the brightly glowing tube that was running above his head. Whatever was in that pipe was amazingly radiant; it lit up everything in the hallway before it branched off into many smaller pipes that ran through the maze of passageways. The blue, as he began calling it in his mind was flowing, like water through a fast moving stream. The pipe seemed to originate from something that was behind the small black doorway.

His experience with sewers told him that if anything was being pushed through a pipe, then it had to originate from somewhere, and wherever something originated from, there had to be an access. So if he followed the large pipe it was likely that he would find his way back to the surface.

Slowly he reached forward and opened the door. It was dark inside, but the light from the hallway lit up the area directly in front of the doorway. Cautiously he made his way inside the room, but the moment that he crossed the threshold of the door, it slammed shut, locking out any of the light that had guided his way.

Immediately he spun around and reached for the door and fell flat on his face. He had overextended himself reaching for the door, but the door was no longer there. Instead the only thing he found was more of the all-consuming darkness.

Picking himself back up, he stepped tentatively forward. Slowly he stumbled forward through the darkness in an attempt to find a wall or something in the dark room. After what felt like an eternity he finally ran into something. It was large, curved, and felt as if it were made out of glass.

As he ran a hand along it, the point he had touched suddenly started glowing the bright blue that he had seen in the tubes earlier. Slowly, the bright blue light spider webbed out, until the light began to reveal the entirety of the space surrounding him.

The door he had come through was indeed gone. In fact, besides the sphere he was currently standing next to there didn't seem to be anything. Walking backwards, away from the now monstrous blue sphere, he looked more closely at it.

Though he couldn't actually see the top of the sphere, he could see that the very large tube that he saw earlier obviously connected to the top of it. Around the sphere there was a ring of a bright silvery metal, almost like a belt. The belt had some of the most intricately carved designs that he had ever seen. The inside of the ball looked like a massive typhoon. The blue, as the child had so aptly named it, was swirling madly around a focal point at its center.

Naruto stared closely at the dark blue focal point; walking closer to glass ball he placed his hand back on the pane of glass.

"There's something in there…" mumbled the confused boy.

The moment his hand made contact with the glass, a huge red eye with a slit like pupil flashed in the center. The appearance of the eye made Naruto jump and fall backwards onto his bottom.

He didn't know what was at the middle of the swirling blue vortex, but whatever it was, he was certain he wanted it to stay there.

As quickly at the eye had appeared, it disappeared, leaving only the blue spinning rapidly around. Slowly Naruto picked himself back up and looked around the open expanse again.

Suddenly out of the silence rang a loud, almost ghost like voice,

"Who are you?"

Stunned, the little boy had no idea who or what was addressing him, though he was quickly broken from his conundrum when the enigmatic voice sounded once again.

"Who are you?"

In fear and confusion the young one replied "I'm Nnnn…" He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, "I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

Immediately the voice asked yet another question,

"Is that the standard nomenclature for your organic being, or is it a personal name?"

Confused the blonde just replied "How should I know, that's just what I'm called."

There was a brief pause of complete silence, followed by the same resounding voice echoing throughout the expansive chamber.

"Why are you here?"

Now Naruto knew he should leave, anytime someone asked him that he inevitably wound up beaten and bleeding after being left for dead in some God forsaken alley somewhere.

In that split second he opted to run, he noted something of extreme importance, there was no longer anything besides the blue ball, the pipe, and him…there was no door.

Seeing he had no choice but to answer the voice, the blonde steeled his resolve and answered.

"I don't know why I'm here, I woke up in this sewer and the only door I could find led me to this room." Now the young boy began to sniffle lightly, then he lightly added, "All I want to do is go home…"

Out of the silence, that strange voice sounded yet again.

"Is there a reason for your meager existence or do you simply pass from one period to another?"

Again the child was confused; he was beginning to fear this blue thing that he saw. He determined that this must be what was talking to him because there was nothing else in the room.

Sniffling, the young boy only said,

"Can I please go see Oji-san… I won't come back… I promise"

Whatever he was speaking to though seemed completely unfazed by the child's tears, in fact its voice held no emotion in the slightest.

"Are your objectives instinctual or are they preconceived?"

Dumbfounded, the boy had no idea how to respond to these questions. Normally when people questioned him it was "Why did you kill them?", or "Why didn't he just kill you when he had the chance?" Admittedly, neither set of questioning made much sense to the young boy, but something here was different.

Then it hit him. There was no hate in this voice, it was merely asking. After calming himself the boy once again face the sphere and said.

"I really don't know what you are asking sir, otherwise I would answer."

He was only mildly surprised now when the voice almost immediately followed with another question.

"Are you capable of reason, or do you rely on instincts?"

The boy had heard these words before, he remembers Oji-san telling him once that a shinobi's greatest asset was not his instincts- any animal had those- but his ability to reason.

The boy then proudly responded,

"I have instincts, but I also can do that reasoning thing pretty well." He smiled to himself for that answer. He knew his Oji-san would be proud of him.

Then the voice seemed to change his direction of questioning a little. It said,

"What are you exactly?"

Confused by this new tangent, he responded,

"Well, I'm a person, a human being. Oji-san said that I was… no matter what anyone else called me…"

Calling out yet again the voice said,

"Is there a term given to your state, or are you undefined?"

After some silence from the blonde, whatever was talking to him must've realized his confusion and decided to press on.

"Why do you exist?"

Now the boy was once again beginning to question himself, _'why do I exist, I don't have a family, very few people will even look at me like I am to be loved. In fact it sometimes seems like I exist only so that no others will be hated.'_ Then it hit him that was his reason to exist. So he replied

"I don't know the answer to that."

Now it seemed to be the blue's turn to think, slowly it responds.

"What goals do you plan to achieve?"

Once again the child found himself thinking, he knew why he existed, but he still had nothing to work for, he had a reason to exist, but nothing to accomplish. A tool that no one seemed to have a use for…

Out of the silence the voice questioned a final time,

"What is the proof that you are?"

With that the room began to fade, darkness encroached on the blonde, but he was standing there shocked, staring at the blue sphere. Only one thought passed his mind.

'_What is the proof that I am?'_

"What was that Naruto-kun?" came the unexpected reply.

The blonde turned to his side to find himself staring at an unexpected sight, his Oji-san was sitting in a chair next to his bed smoking his pipe, hiding what looked to be an orange book in his side pocket.

Naruto looks around the room trying to gain his bearings. Behind the old man he could see a window that faces the Hokage monument. There was a small table next to the window that had some random bottles laying on it.

"Where am I?" came the confused sounding voice of the small child.

The old man replied, "You are currently in the private room of the Sarutobi residence. You have been unconscious for a few days, and I felt it best for your safety that you remained in that hospital as shortly as possible."

That brought back unwanted memories to the little boy. He remembered why he was in such a place as the hospital to begin with. He had been out for his sixth birthday, intending to go find his Oji-san to attempt to get a free meal out of him. As he was walking a group of four masked men dropped around him.

_**FLASHBACK **_

"Where are you going, Demon?" spat the first man, who wore a dog mask and had hair that seemed to defy gravity.

"I was just going to see if Oji-san was done working at the tower and see if he would treat me to some ramen" came the honest reply from the child.

"So you admit that you were seeking out the Hokage?" Asked the first masked man again.

Silently the young boy nodded his head.

"You all heard it, the Demon was seeking to kill yet another Hokage, as the defenders of our leader it is now within our rights to destroy this abomination."

As if on silent command all four cloaked warriors leapt upon the small boy, stabbing, hacking, kicking, and punching until finally the boy found himself pinned against the wall of an alley where a small mob seemed to of formed. The original four masked men suddenly disappeared, but the mob took it upon themselves to finish the job. Reprieve finally came when one of the drunken mob members crushed the top of his skull with a large club and everything faded to black.

_**FLASHBACK END **_

The old man saw the boys eyes slowly come back into focus after a short while. Suddenly the small child lunged at the old man crying profusely. After a while the sobs began to lessen and the child looked into the old man's eyes and asked the question that the man was dreading.

"Why do they hate me Oji-san?"

Sighing, the old man looked into the tear filled cerulean eyes of the mere child in front of him.

"Naruto, hear an old man out, I will do my best to explain this to you. You see, what people don't understand, they inevitably fear, just as one would fear the darkness. And what one fears, he will hate. But Naruto never forget, hate does not beget hate. Those people will test you they will seek to break you, but do not let them. Prove to them that you are better, that you are not to be feared. Give them proof, find something worth protecting, and hold onto it will all you have."

"But remember, not everyone hates you Naruto, whether you realize it now or not there are those who care for you greatly, and would do anything to make you smile."

The following day Naruto returned to his old apartment. The usual graffiti was present all over the walls. What he liked to call "angry words" such as "Die Demon" and what appeared to be a crucifix nailed to the wall.

Sighing to himself he walked through the splintered doorway, only to find that it his entire apartment was utterly destroyed, not one thing that he had was whole.

Panic filled the boy once again. He had only one possession that he held dear. Tearing into his room he let out a sigh of relief. While his clothes were burned, his mattress shredded, and even his walls were broken down. The small loose floorboard where he hid his favorite things remained intact.

Peeling back the oaken board, he removed a small box. Inside the box were two small items that he had owned for as long as he was able to remember. The two objects were small metal rings. The first, smaller than the second ring, was made out a white colored metal. It was always ice cold to the touch. The second was slightly larger and made out of a dark blue metal. The center of each ring had a simple flat spot where a unique symbol was engraved. The symbol was what looked like an 8 on its side, Oji-san said it was similar to an infinity symbol, whatever that meant. The only thing that Oji-san mentioned about the symbol, though, was that where the lines were supposed to cross over in the middle, they didn't meet. There was a small gap, making it an imperfect symbol.

Late at night, when it had been an exceptionally bad day, he liked to look at the rings and pretend that they had belonged to his family. Because at least when he could pretend, the world didn't seem quite so daunting.

Tears began to well in the boy's eyes again. No matter how many times his house was damaged, it was never easy. After crying to himself for a long time, his eyes fixed upon the forests in the distance.

"Maybe it would just be better for all of us if I left for a while. No one besides Oji-san will even notice if I go away."

After his short monologue to himself he packed what few clothes he had left, and left, not intending to return any time soon. But before he left he knew that he needed to see his Oji-san. He was the only one who was ever kind to him, it was only right that he returned the favor.

As he made his way towards the Hokage tower where his Oji-san works, he began a mental checklist of what he thought he was going to need. Food was obviously high on his priorities, but for a child such as himself food was difficult to come by. The only people who would even sell it to him were that Father and Daughter duo that worked the ramen stand.

'_Hmm… Well if I plan on not coming back for a while then maybe I'll look into getting something that will tell me what I can and can't eat in the wild.'_ He sighed and continued the long walk to the tower, ignoring the painful stares as much as he could.

'_If I plan on being able to protect someone, I guess I'll also need to learn how to fight. That shouldn't be too hard. Oji-san is as strong as they come, maybe he'll be able to give me something.'_

He figured those two things would be a good place to start as he prepared for his inevitable escape.

As he approached the tower he was met with another conundrum, _'Even if I do get inside the tower without anyone stopping me, I still need to get past those two masked guys at Oji-sans door.'_ Then he remembered something, _'Last time I tried to sneak past them, I got my butt kicked, but maybe if I just make enough noise, the old man will hear me and come out…'_

With this new plan of attack the young blonde made his way up the 258 steps that it takes to get all the way up to the Hokage's office. _'I can see why the shinobi just jump to the top landing, these stairs suck!'_ cried the young boy to himself.

Sneaking into the lobby outside the Hokage's office, he noted that it was empty. Well, empty except for the sleeping secretary and the two masked statues. Now was the perfect time to enact his master plan.

"Hey Oji-san!! I came to get that free meal that you owe me from my birthday!!" screamed the now hyperactive blonde.

The once sleeping secretary jolted awake and, upon seeing the yellow haired child, screamed.

"The demon is attacking! Kill him!!"

At this the Anbu on guard lunged forward, swords slashing down upon the young child. Then, at the last moment, a loud bang and a flash of white stopped them. There in front of them stood the one known as the God of Shinobi in all is might, a look of pure fury etched upon his face. Turning to the Anbu, he spoke in a low growl.

"What in the name of God are you doing, lower your weapons!"

"But Hokage-sama! The demon was attacking again, your secretary called for its death" said the now frightened Anbu.

"And who gives you your orders, the secretary or myself?" questioned the aged Hokage.

"You sir!" cried both of the Anbu simultaneously.

"And you will do well to remember as much. When I am done talking to Naruto you may consider yourselves removed of your position, report to the academy to help train the new students at 0700 hours tomorrow. I expect your masks on my desk by nightfall."

"Sir" cried the Anbu; they knew better than to question the Hokage. Old he may be, but he wasn't called the God of Shinobi for nothing.

"And you!" said the Hokage as he turns to his secretary, "Clean your desk out, you're fired!"

"B..b..But Sir, I've worked here for years! I only did what I thought was in your own best interest" said the distraught woman

"And that is the only reason I'm not having you jailed for breaking my laws. Ms. Haruno."

The now identified woman broke down in tears. With her husband dead from the Kyuubi attack, she now had no income to support her young daughter. With dark eyes she turned to the child.

"This is your fault child, twice now you've ruined my life and I will not forget it. Someday you will get yours…"

At this she stood up and stormed from the room.

Instantly the old man faced his young friend with a calm smile.

"Now Naruto, what have you come to my office for? I'm sure it wasn't just for ramen."

"Of course not Oji-san" said the mildly confused child. While things had gone to plan, it wasn't quite what he had been expecting. He never meant for these people to lose their jobs because of him.

"I actually came here to ask you for a favor. I was hoping you could tell me a spot where I could train away from people. Maybe you could even help me, if even just a little. I need to be strong!" said the now smiling child.

"Train?" said the old man, "why do you feel the sudden need to be strong?"

"I just want to make sure that this never happens to anyone ever again" answered the child simply.

"So you plan on being a great protector?" questioned the Sandaime.

"Exactly" replied Naruto.

"So do you plan on taking this job away from me one day, and protecting the entire city? It would prove them wrong about you after all."

"No!" cried the boy. "I will protect that which deserves my protection, I will protect everyone, even if it means the destruction of a…"

Sarutobi grimaced, he had heard those exact same words in the past, and he honestly hoped that he would never live to see this come to pass. He turned solemnly towards the boy.

"Naruto, where did you hear that? Did someone tell you that?"

The boy looked confused again for a moment.

"No, it just kinda came to me. No one really ever tells me anything."

Sarutobi looked straight into the boy's eyes and saw only honesty in them. He wasn't lying. He had honestly never heard that before. And that is exactly what worried the old man.

"Naruto what you just spoke to me is a direct quote from an order that calls themselves The Ancients" said the old man as he walked towards a small picture of the Shodaime on the wall.

Moving the portrait aside it reveals an old and complex looking seal. The old Hokage bit his thumb and smeared some blood across the seal, activating it. After the flash of light faded an old blackened scroll was lying in the Hokage's arms. Nothing was really remarkable about the scroll, just that it appeared to be very old.

"In here lies one of the few written documents about the Ancients. The Shodaime was given it, after being told that someday one of his successors may have use of it. It appears that we finally do…"

"What would we need some old scroll for? It looks like a piece of junk to me" said the small child.

The Hokage smiled sadly and said, "Within this scroll lies a story that has all but past from our world, few remember it anymore. This is one of the few written documents from the second coming of the Ancients."

At this the Hokage opened the scroll and began to read from for the aged parchment.

'_Ten years ago, a shadow awoke in the dark. From the deepest pits of hell one of the last of the Fallen, Titus, returned to the earth. With him returned the demons of old, all taking various forms, each powerful in their own rights. They have set their sights to make earth their next conquest, but there were those who would stand against them._

_From the shadows of the earth rose a second power, one that no one expected. They never named themselves, but the legends have named them 'The Ancients'. No one truly knows who they are or from where they came, but they alone seem to hold the power to stop Titus and his army of darkness._

_After years of silent battle between the two powers of old, Titus and the Ancient named Amarius met on the battlefield. For days the battle raged, neither seemed to be able to destroy the other. Finally on the fifth day of battle, the partner of Amarius, Sapho joined the battle at dawn. Finally things began to turn towards the better for the Ancients. But not all was as it appeared._

_Titus in a last ditch effort tore the land in two, creating a giant chasm where he sacrificed his own human form and his massive armies to an old god, and sent himself back to the depths of hell to summon a power great enough to destroy the two Ancients._

_The land was free of Titus's armies, but scrawled across the canyon's wall was a note written in darkness. The exact note has long since been forgotten, but its message was clear, he would return with his nine demons to control the earth. Without the full force of the Ancients, there will be no stopping him._

_On the day the darkness disappeared it was as if the Ancients went with them. For centuries none heard from them, and so they passed into legend, and much of what once was, was forgotten._

_But, as the centuries passed a new shadow began to emerge. Nine different tailed demons, spawned from the depths of hell began to spread across the land. The second coming of Titus is approaching._

_And lo, the first of the Ancients has returned, but only to announce the obligation of the Ancients…_

Unto our dying breaths, we will defend those who deserve to live, even if it means the destruction of a brother. With every breath we shall hunt them down, till their blood rains from the heavens. Till the day that our obligations are fulfilled, we will never know the final rest. We will bind ourselves to them. We will be the flaming sword of God. And that shall be the proof that we were.

_And again the Ancients passed into the shadows. All we can gleam from what little is known of them is that they do not die, at least not truly. One way or another the Ancients live on, at least until the darkness falls. Past that everything else is merely speculation_'

"And that Naruto, is who you seem to be connected to in one way or another."

After hearing these words the Hokage noticed that Naruto's eyes had a glazed look to them again, as if he wasn't really there.

Flickering in front of the child was a glowing image of a man with unruly hair and eyes that were filled with concentric circles. The image started talking. The voice sounded like it was an echo from some far off place.

"You are wise beyond your years Sarutobi, and for that the Ancients will be forever in your thanks. Amarius is reawakening in this child, but do not fear he will forever be Naruto until his dying days, but we have use for him. In a few short moments the child will tell you of a revelation that he has had while talking with the force that lies within him, we expect you to back him fully."

"But do not fear old one. Know this, on the day of your greatest battle, when all seems lost, this child will return to your side to aid you in your last stand on that day. However until that day comes to pass this child will be in the care of the Ancients. He will learn to control what he will one day inherit, and on the day he first meets Amarius he will return to you."

"Look for his coming on the tenth day of the tenth month of his thirteenth year."

Naruto's eyes closed momentarily as he slumped down into his chair. With a jolt he jumped back up.

Scratching the back of his head sheepishly he looked at his Oji-san.

"Sorry Oji-san looks like I fell asleep there, that story must've been pretty boring. Anyways, I wanted to know if you would let me leave the village for a while?"

He turned his head towards the ground.

"I know it may sound weird, but I feel like there is something I need to do, and I don't think I can do it alone. Will you help me?"

The old man was astounded, never before had he seen Naruto act quite like this. It was as if he suddenly had a purpose. Remembering what was asked of him he grudgingly complied. He didn't like the idea of the boy leaving, but he knew that he really didn't have much of a say in the matter.

"You may not believe me now Naruto, but I do believe in you. I will help you to the best of my abilities, but grant me just one favor. When you do return, make sure that the trip was worth the effort on my part. I have a few scrolls on basic ninja techniques that you may have. If you ever need more just send word and I'll do my best."

Naruto, once more with a bright smile ran up and hugged the Hokage. After a brief thank you and goodbye, Naruto was gone.

The Sandaime stood at his window, watching the young boy traipse back down the street heading towards his apartment. As he walked away he couldn't help but think,

'_With Naruto leaving, suddenly Konoha seems a little bleak.'_

Somewhere in a small shack outside of The Village Hidden in the Mists, a young girl had just been forced to kill her father. Alone and confused, she wandered the snow-covered roads, close to death.

As she closed her eyes to take the final journey, a strange light met her. Focusing on the light she was surprised to hear it speak to her.

"Do not rest yet young one. There is one coming that will care for you till the second Amarius comes to take you to his side once again. But until that time comes, you must survive. Your life is now worth more than you may know."

The girl suddenly woke back up, feeling a strange urge to walk just a little more before nightfall and death claim her.

Walking down the road she saw what she believed to be a demon hiding in the mist, extending its hand toward her…

--

In a cave high in the mountains, four others sitting at a table with six sides began their long awaited meeting.

Black eyes suddenly redden and looked at the others.

"It seems that the second coming of Amarius and Sapho has finally come. In seven years they will begin to understand their destiny. At that time we will begin to move again. Titus has yet to expose himself. He is still at rest, but I feel that it will not be long."

A strange looking man, hunched over, almost looking robotic, looked to his peers.

"So far Titus's plans have been going unfortunately well. This will not be an easy victory for us, but there is a flaw in his plans."

A man with ringed eyes looked for up.

"Aye, I don't think he expected the shinobi of today to discover a way to stop his nine beasts of hell. This will not stop him, but it may cause enough of delay that it will finally give us an edge."

The red-eyed man started chuckling to himself. His shark like companion turns and looks at him.

Answering the silent question he informs the group.

"There is one last bit of irony here. Titus almost lost to Amarius and Sapho at the last battle. I wonder how he will fair, now that Amarius is slowly but surely destroying his most powerful beast. With that ingenious seal the Yondaime Hokage made, the will of all those who died that day are slowly draining the beast of his power. By the time Titus makes his move… The Kyuubi, his greatest general…will cease to exist…"

The man with ringed eyes chuckles, barely opening his eyes he looks upon the assembled group.

"Be that as it may, I believe I owe that old Hokage a visit. Orpheo, you will go, you have already met him in the past."

--

Kukukuku…

A sinister chuckle escaped the lips of Konoha's greatest missing-nin. Orochimaru had just successfully killed the last few remaining Uchiha. That damn brat Itachi had refused to join him. Saying he had something far more important than Orochimaru to deal with. So it only seemed fair that he repay Itachi's courtesy.

Itachi had long since abandoned his village, but he was not yet forgotten. No child prodigy such as him would be forgotten that quickly. He reasoned that since he could not take the young man, then he would just take what was left of the young man's family.

Hearing the patter of a child's footsteps behind him, he quickly reapplied the henge around his body.

Turning around he sees young boy staring at him,

"Aniki?"

With a groan the old Hokage opens his eyes.

'_I am getting way too old for all this paperwork.'_

As he rolled over to turn off his clock, which read 5 am, his eyes settle on the pictures of his family that adorn the table. Right in front is a small photo of a young boy in a bright orange jump suit.

The Hokage smiles, '_Naruto said he was going to leave early this morning. I'll have to find him later to give him the stuff he asked for.'_

With a slightly happier outlook the old man begins his morning rituals, preparing for another day of paperwork and boredom.

Just before sunrise the Hokage begins to make his way to his office. As he approaches the door, he notices the light inside is already turned on. In a traditional office this may not be such a big deal. But no one got into the Hokage's office unless the Hokage had already opened it.

Sitting in front of his desk was what looked to be a teenager, with black hair and a large black cloak. He was listening to the most peculiar music, it sounded bold and dark, as if someone was being dragged to the pits of hell. The music was expressive to say the least. But it was being sang in a language that he had never heard before, it sounded very peculiar.

Suddenly the young man spoke, without turning around.

"Hokage-sama, it is good to see that you are well. Please take your seat. I feel that we have much to talk about. I assure you, I mean you know harm."

Slowly but surely the old man made his way to his desk. As he was walking to his desk the young man began to speak again.

"Do you like the song?" Without waiting for a reply he continued, "It is one of my favorite pieces, it is named "Don Giovanni", written by the late composer Mozart. It was first performed in the city of Prague, on October 29th, the year was 1787. I will never forget that performance. This is my favorite piece of the whole opera, it is where Giovanni is being dragged down to hell by a group of devils, who you hear singing in the background."

The Hokage was now incredibly confused, so he opted to voice his concerns.

"Young man, not that I mean to refute you but, there is no city called Prague, and how did you hear it in 1787, it's only the year 984?"

"All valid questions, however allow me to retort. Prague has unfortunately long since fallen into the seas, and do you honestly believe that your calendar is the only one to have ever existed. We are getting off subject. I came to talk with you about Amarius."

Now this had the Hokage's attention, as he looked up he was finally able to see the face of the man in front of him.

"Itachi?... Is that you?"

"I have been called that name in the past yes, however now I am normally referred to as Orpheo, one of the Ancients."

Now this most definitely had the old man's attention, Orpheo was recorded to be one of the more powerful of the eight ancients. However he was also said to be one of the more eccentric.

"I mean no disrespect, but Orpheo is not a common name, nor is Amarius. Where on earth did you get such strange names?"

Itachi looked up with a small smile.

"Truthfully our real names have long since been forgotten. Amarius gave this name to me. Actually, it was a nickname more than anything else. Orpheo was the first opera ever written, written by a man named Claudio Monteverdi in 1607. Amarius thought it was funny, since I have always had a passion for opera and oratorio."

The Sandaime had a confused look on his face, which Itachi found to be mildly amusing. _'Probably still confused about the dates, oh well, I don't really feel like explaining it to him again…'_

The old man looked up.

"And what of Amarius?"

"That name was given to him by the powers that control the Ancients. He is far older than I am. Few know much about his origins, but he has fought Titus from the beginning, and swore to defeat him at all costs. He was among the original Ancients."

The Hokage sighed and thought to himself,

'_Sure I'm finally getting some answers, but I really don't know anything. All I know is how they got their names, nothing about their goals or who they are.'_

As if he was able to read his mind Itachi suddenly replied,

"I haven't told you our goals because as of this moment they don't really concern you. We just felt that we owed you a debt of gratitude for keeping Naruto safe."

The Sandaime leveled is gaze and replied,

"Then if you cannot tell me anything else, at least tell me what will become of Naruto."

Itachi smiled politely.

"Fate is a funny thing. You ask me the one thing that I am unable to tell you. It has yet to be decided what will happen to our young friend. Amarius is unique in that, of all the ancients, he is the only one whose future is still his to choose. Though I will warn you Sarutobi, before he can rise he must fall, and when he does the Naruto you know may cease to exist."

Sarutobi leaned back into his chair, deep in thought. He packed his ebony pipe with another small ball of the sweet smelling tobacco. As he lit it he began thinking to himself.

'_Naruto, what will become of you?'_

Seeing the Sandaime deep in thought, Itachi took it upon himself to show himself out.

As Itachi left he turned to look at Sarutobi.

"You know, you don't strike me as an opera enthusiast, maybe you'd prefer this."

Itachi places a small black object on the table and pressed a small button with a strange triangle on it. Instantly a soothing melodic tone of simple violins and a harpsichord filled the air. The Sandaime smiled at the bittersweet tune, it did indeed fit him well.

"Hmm, I do like this one, what is it called?"

"It's called Largo from the opera Xerxes, written by the great melodist George Fredric Handel. It's almost what one would call violin concerto. It tells the story about the simple beauty of sitting in the shade of a tree. While the opera itself was ill received, this piece, the aria became one of his greatest works. I'll leave it here for you, next time we meet maybe I'll bring along some Antonio Vivaldi. His concertos are among the best ever written."

With that, the mysterious youth walked out his door, not to be heard from again for many years.

As his shadow faded Sarutobi turned and watched the red dawn rise over the city he was sworn to protect. The music was indeed as beautiful as it was haunting. He could not deny the simply power that this "Handel" claimed over him at this moment. Sinking into his chair, the man suddenly appeared to be what he was, a simple old man with far too many burdens.

--

Already Naruto was far outside the walls of the city when the same red dawn began to encroach upon his hiding spot in a tree. Several drunken villagers had seen him leaving the night before and found it to be the perfect time to destroy the scourge of Konoha.

'_Damn them! I can't believe the followed me this far out into the wilderness!'_

Just as this thought crossed his mind, a strange black blur appeared in front of the enraged villagers. It stopped suddenly and all the villagers fell to the ground. Without looking towards the boy, the black clad stranger began to talk to him.

"You know Naruto-kun, all great warriors have a calling card of some sort. Something that sets them apart from the masses. It leaves their mark upon the enemy, so that they will never forget who they have crossed. What will the masses remember you by?"

As soon as the words left the strangers lips, he disappeared without a sound.

Quietly the small child crept from his hiding spot and approached the bodies of the villagers. He could tell they weren't dead, but they didn't look like they would be waking up soon.

Looking around, he spotted something shiny protruding out from under the body of one of the smaller men. Upon closer inspection it proved to be a small scythe, probably used by a smaller teen to help harvest grains in the fall.

Naruto suddenly remembered a story that he had heard many years ago from the Sandaime. Although the exact words he had long since forgotten, the story he remembered clearly. It was simply about an ancient evil, a reaper of souls sent by Kami to dispose of those who no longer had the privilege to remain.

It was with sardonic irony that he picked up the scythe. It was simple, a wooden shaft with a slight curve to it and a two foot long steel blade with a fine edge on it.

'_They always said that one day the reaper would come for me, so now I will become that reaper that they fear.'_

He turned and looked at the dark red sun creeping up over the Hokage Mountain in the far distance. A small sense of profound peace claimed the child's mind. For the first time in ages he felt at ease. Out here amongst the forest animals may be dangerous, but they do not lie. There is no deceit in the simple-minded beasts. There are no snares of witty silver-tongued snakes lurking in shadows waiting to strike. Here he was safe, for now.

--

Itachi reentered the circular room filled by his brethren. He looked at the ringed eyed one and said.

"It is starting earlier than we had anticipated. The memories of Amarius have begun to show forth in the child. Already he has picked up the first scythe of Amarius that I had placed for him. I believe that at some subconscious level he remembers being the reaper of old."

The blue skinned man next to him looked up as well.

"Sapho has awoken as well. She resides in a child and is in the care of an old friend of mine. She will be safe for the moment."

The ringed eyed man sighed,

"Then we wait, Titus has yet to make any formal movements outside of sending forth his demons. We cannot confront him unless Amarius rejoins us. It all rests on the child's will now. The moment he falls, we will make our first move. Until that time we wait, and observe."

--

Naruto felt the smooth wooden shaft of his newly acquired blade. The tool was old, but well cared for. Taking a few small practice swings with it, he felt a small piece of happiness converge upon him, as if he had found a long lost friend.

From the trees above a man dressed in the robes of a Hokage watched the child intently. Hiding is chakra carefully he watched the boy as he thought to himself.

'_I know that Naruto has ever once handled such an awkward tool in his life, but now he swings it around as if he has been doing it for a lifetime.' _He thought at the child made quite the amazing leap for a six year old, and cut a falling leaf

'_Is this the power of an ancient?'_

With that thought he quietly entered the small clearing and place a few scrolls upon the ground, as well as a package of clothing for the child. Once his delivery was complete he stood and watched the boy for just a moment more.

Naruto swung the blade around quickly. Even though his arms were beginning to ache, he was enjoying himself immensely as he fought against imaginary foes. With a final flourish of the curved blade he cut straight through a small log. Smiling to himself he shouldered his scythe and turned around to see his Oji-san smiling down at him.

"That was wonderful Naruto, but where on earth did you learn to use a scythe like that? No one in Konoha uses such a unique weapon."

The boy shrugged.

"I dunno, it just kinda felt right."

The old man smiled.

"I think I do understand Naruto." Pointing down at the packages at his feet the old man continued talking. "Now here is the rest of what you asked for. For the next seven or so years you are free to roam around the country as you please, but please stay out of trouble and keep in touch, I don't want you to forget about this old man here."

Naruto laughed lightly.

"I would never forget about you Oji-san."

The old man smiled widely.

"Fair enough Naruto, but remember that you have to be here by September in seven years so that you can join the academy's graduating class."

"I will."

With that the small child ran over to the old man and said,

"I'll miss you Oji-san, but I'll be back before you know it. I'll be stronger than ever."

The old man simply chuckled,

"I believe you will Naruto."

With that the Naruto picked up his packages, donned his backpack, re-shouldered his scythe and began walking down the small deer path that ran near the main road.

The Hokage smiled and took out the small black object that Itachi had left him. Resting under a large oak tree the old man pressed the triangle and listened to the soothing tones as they lulled him into a light sleep.

He didn't know what would become of the world, but for right now it was still peaceful, and he intended to enjoy every moment of it.

Author's Notes

*Hananosei means Spirit of the flower

**Akihiko means bright child, Akio means Glorious Hero

Well, I used quite a bit of the original, but I added the prologue and introduced the story a different way. I had to change around a few things, but I like it more this way.

Beta's Notes

Not much changed from what the author changed. Just a little sentence rearrangement and grammar fixes but otherwise fine.

"Now remember kids to eat your vegetables and get plenty of sleep."


	2. Chapter 2 The Prodigal Son's Return

--

The Dark Waltz

Chapter 2

The Prodigal Son's Return

--

August 25th 991

--

A pair of bright blue eyes turned to the dying sun, as it faded slowly over the wind swept hills. The eyes turned to the north, the direction he was slowly working towards.

'I suppose its time to head back, Oji-san is expecting me within the next couple of days'

Thought the boy. He was clad in the same simple clothes that the old man had given him all those years ago. He had long ago stopped wearing his blaze orange clothing, settling for a slightly less colorful arrangement. Now he wore a pair of black pants and a black t-shirt, nothing fancy, just practical.

Reaching the end of the small goat prairie he took to the trees again, leaping gracefully from one to another. Quickly making his way through the dense foliage without so much as a noise. Anyone that may have spotted him would surely pass him off as a mere specter of the evening.

After all, the setting sun is the greatest illusionist of all.

--

Else where the old Hokage was staring intently at the gates of Konoha, as the sun slowly set over the horizon.

Age had not been kind to the old man, while physically he looked no older than a man in his late sixties, but he had weathered things that no man should have to face. In his childhood he watched friends and family die in a brutal and fruitless war. He saw the bonds of brotherhood between men and nations fall into chaos. He watched as his two mentors and friends, left for a mission that they knew they would not return from. He saw his people through a second great war, where the nations lost almost an entire generation. His genius student abandoned his teachings, and the rest of his team fall apart. He watched the rise of great leader, instantly crushed by a raging demon. And watched as a small child was cursed with a burden that no man should have to carry.

Much had happened in this mans life, but he could not help but wear a small smile when he saw the smile on a child's face at the park, or the look of awe in a genin's eye when they learn his first real jutsu.

He had bared much in his long life, but he would do it over again in an instant if it were necessary.

As he watched the sun set over his beloved home, he could not help but to let his mind meander towards his wandering friend.

'Soon Naruto will return to Konoha. Hopefully his trip was worth his time, I fear that he will need to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, and something tells me that I will not be there to help him"

Lost in his own thoughts he slowly turned towards the road that lead towards his house, he never noticed the shadow ducking into an open window of the tower he just vacated.

--

The man known as Mizuki was breathing heavily. He had just narrowly escaped the confines of his village with forbidden scroll. Sneaking past the Anbu that had been searching for him was not easy, however thanks to help from his contact on the outside he was finally outside the reach of that damnable village.

Deciding to take a brief reprieve, he lands lightly at the base of a large ash tree that was bordering a small field. Looking out into the field he saw a small sea of delicate pink flowers with a bright yellow center. Had it not been such a stressful moment he may of found their beauty intoxicating.

"Do you like them?" Came the sound of a child behind him.

Startled, Mizuki whirled around only to find the voice belonged to a boy that could not be more than a dozen years old.

Without making eye contact with the man, the boy walked up to the edge of the field.

"The flower is named the Japanese Anemone, most would consider it a invasive plant, a predator of the soil. However, I see it differently, as all other flowers slowly fade and die as the winter approaches, this one strives to bloom just a few more times. The colors of the trees fading in the background make its beauty even more startling."

Now that the man's senses had returned to him after being shocked by unexpected interruption of a child he began to eye the situation more suspiciously.

'Where on earth did he come from, I know I didn't sense him. I know working at that damn academy so long dulled my skills, but to miss a child…"

The boy continued talking despite the man's silence.

"Flowers like these never bloom during the spring, when everything is in full color. They are content to sit and watch as the color returns to the world. It is not until all the other colors begin to fade that is shines. Just as beautiful as any other flower, but one that shows its beauty more in death than it ever could for the living. Do you not agree Shinobi-san?"

Shocked the man turned to face the boy again.

"And what would make you think that I'm a shinobi, maybe I'm just a wandering farm hand? It is almost time to harvest." Questioned Mizuki.

Without turning his eyes away from the field the boy answered.

"For one, you move to quietly to be anything else. Secondly, you're wearing your forehead protector, that has the symbol for Konohagakure on it. And finally you appear to have the same large scroll that I believe belongs to the Hokage."

After telling Mizuki this, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, he looked up at the young moon.

"The moon is just returning to the sky after disappearing into darkness for a short period."

Finally turning to look at the man with the scroll face to face, the boy made eye contact.

Immediately Mizuki knew whom he had found on this fateful night.

"You!" He cried, "I'd remember that face anywhere, you're the demon brat! I thought you died years ago!"

Startled by the man's sudden outbreak, the child didn't really know what to say.

"Umm… are you sure that you don't have me mistaken for someone else? I mean I haven't been in Konoha for almost seven years now."

Unperturbed Mizuki let a small sick smile cross his features.

"I see how it is, that foolish old man sent his demon child out here to kill me tonight."

Still mildly confused the boy just looked at him funny.

"Why are you insistent that I am a demon? I assure you that I am just as human as you are"

Looking as if he had finally gone of the deep end Mizuki started yelling at him.

"Not a demon! I was there that night when you attacked, killing thousands. I saw you as you just stood there and destroyed everything. I've seen you before Kyuubi, you can't hide from me!"

Now the child looked utterly confused as the man continued his rage induced rant.

"That right! I know all about you Kyuubi, I know that you are just biding your time till you can regain enough power to kill everyone, but I won't let that happen. I'll kill you right here right now!"

At this the psychotic man leapt forward towards the child, while simultaneously pulling a large shuriken from his back.

Now slightly fearful the child sprinted into the clearing, while yelling at the crazed ninja following him.

"What is your problem? I thought you were a friend of the old man's and now your trying to kill me."

The man threw the large shuriken at the small boy fully intending to end his life right there. When suddenly the boy had a strange scythe in his hand that easily parried the blow. Mizuki was startled; he was positive that the child had not been armed only moments before. Hearing the child's outcry the instigator started yelling again.

"Friends with that old decrepit man? I hate him, he holds us back. We could rule the world but that peace loving old fool doesn't want to. And he should have killed you the first chance he could of, but he let you live even though you killed everyone!"

Not much ever really pissed Naruto off, but bad mouthing the one man who had ever gone out of his way to help him was a sure way to get onto his bad side quickly.

Slowly turning around to face the man again he asked him a simple question.

"You aren't supposed to have that scroll are you?"

The man started laughing again.

"Of course not, I took it so I could go to Orochimaru and gain strength. So that I could crush that senile old fool with him!"

Once again making eye contact with the man Naruto addressed him similarly to how he did when he first saw the strange man.

"You see the moon? Tonight even it cries for you."

At this the boy suddenly rushed the crazed man, his scythe in hand. Leaping the short distance to the stunned man he quickly tried to stab him with the sharp end of the scythe,

Jumping backwards the traitor threw his second large shuriken at the boy, seeing it connect with a disgusting thud, the man thought he had gotten the boy, until the boy suddenly turned into a small log that is.

Appearing from above the boy tried to make another swing with his scythe. Mizuki knew he didn't have time to dodge fully, so he opted to try and grab the scythes handle and avert the blow.

Smiling thinking he had the upper hand now that the boys weapon was in his grip, he never expected the child to use the momentum of his fall to sweep his leg around and land a crushing blow to the traitors right hip.

In the shock of being struck, Mizuki lost his grip on the farming implements and the child quickly kicked off of Mizuki, pulling the blade along with him. Forgetting about the curvature of the blade, Mizuki didn't even think to duck as the razor sharp blade raked along his right collarbone.

Hissing in pain as he grabbed his shoulder Mizuki cried out.

"Damn you demon! I'll kill you and that old man after I'm done here!"

Naruto just spoke quietly,

"I can understand you hatred towards me and if it were just me I may even allow you to go, but threatening the old man, you have just ensured your defeat."

Looking up at the man, Mizuki was startled, he had seen the boys blue eyes earlier, he had expected to see hatred in his eyes, or the eyes of the Kyuubi, but nothing prepared him for what he saw.

He could have sworn he saw the boy's eyes flash bright silver, before fading to a cold ice blue. He looked like death itself, running at him flourishing his silver bladed scythe in the dull moonlight.

With a flash of steel, the fight was over. Mizuki lay beaten on the ground, he was not dead, but Naruto doubted he would ever be a ninja again.

He stared silently at the crumpled body of Mizuki for a moment, till a noise behind him alerted him of another presence. Expecting another attack Naruto spun quickly on his heel, bringing his scythe to bear.

Behind him was another Konoha shinobi. This one slightly taller than the other with a large scar crossing the bridge of his nose. His hair dark brown hair done up in a strange knot, 'kinda made his head look like a pineapple, but he has a Konoha forehead protector on, so he may be in league with that traitor' thought the smaller blond.

Raising his hands in a pacifying gesture the strange haired man said kindly,

"Whoa there, settle down Naruto." Seeing the boy still eyeing him distrustfully, "My name is Iruka, I'm a teacher at the academy, I was following Mizuki over there." pointing a finger in the general direction of the broken man.

"The Sandaime said you'd be coming back soon, to join up with this years graduating class. I assure you, I have not forsaken the village that raised me."

Naruto still didn't completely trust the man, but he didn't sense any danger from him, so he lowered his scythe.

"If what you say is true, then you won't mind accompanying me as I go to the village to return that scroll to Oji-san will you?"

Glad that the boy had decided against attacking him Iruka just nodded his head and said,

"Of course not, but we need to bring Mizuki back too so that he can be questioned."

Turning around slowly Iruka made his way towards Mizuki and threw the man over his shoulder like he was some over size bag of potatoes. And made his way back towards Naruto who was tying the abnormally large scroll to his back.

Once it was secured he turned towards Iruka,

"Iruka-san are you ready? I'd like to be back at Konoha by daybreak"

Iruka nodded his head, and with that the blonde enigma took off into the trees at a fairly fast clip.

Iruka frowned, 'If I have to run that quickly all the way back, this is going to be a long night'

--

Hours later an exhausted Iruka and Naruto were within sight of the gates.

'Finally' thought Iruka, 'I can get this lard ass off me, my back is killing me'

Just as they approached the closed gate, a masked Anbu dropped in front of them and addressed Iruka.

"I see you found the traitor, and you found someone to help you carry the scroll too."

It was more of a statement than a question really, but Iruka was so tired that he didn't really care. With no hesitation he dropped the traitor off his shoulders onto the compact dirt road below.

"Yes, Naruto-kun was kind enough to retrieve the scroll for Hokage-sama. I merely had to carry the traitor back for Ibiki."

Hearing this the Anbu looked back towards the blond who was waiting patiently at the side of the road.

"Ah, so your Naruto. Hokage-sama requested that as soon as you got here that I escort you to his office immediately. It seems the man has missed you greatly. Although I don't think he expected your return to be quite like this."

Naruto laughed lightly at the masked man, he didn't sense any hatred from the man, which seemed a little unusual, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Yea, I can't say that I expected to find a random guy carrying one of Oji-san's scrolls on my way back either. But anyways if you would be so kind to bring us to him because I don't know about Iruka, but I'm tired and hungry"

With a slight chuckle at the young boys blatant disrespect of the Hokage's station, he turned and addressed Iruka again.

"I'm sorry to ask you to do this but you'll need to bring Mizuki to the Anbu compound by yourself, I need to escort our mutual friend here to Hokage-sama. Once you drop him off though please come to the office, I'm sure Hokage-sama would like a report from you as well."

With a small scowl, Iruka agreed and re-shouldered the traitor and took off into the heart of the city.

Naruto and the masked Anbu took to the roofs making their way to the Hokage's office.

--

Without much fanfare, Naruto made his way through the still quiet halls of the Hokage tower. Reaching the door of the office he started to feel excited again though, because just through those doors was the only family that Naruto had ever known.

Without a second thought Naruto races across he lobby and burst through the doors.

The Hokage hearing the loud clatter jumped up expecting an attack, not a giant flying blonde boy giving him a backbreaking hug.

Laughing loudly the Hokage smiled and said,

"Naruto, your finally back, and look at how much you've grown."

As the blonde stepped back a little from the Hokage, he was to see how much the child really had changed in the past several years.

He had grown quite a bit, still a little on the short side, but not tiny by any means. He had a fair bit of muscle on him now too. Not a whole lot, he was only twelve after all. The most interesting thing about him though was that he held himself more like a seasoned warrior than a twelve year old. At first glance he seemed to appear normal, but if you watched him you saw how delicate and precise all of his movements were.

Smiling brightly the old man brought the child in for another quick hug, before bidding him to take a seat and tell him al that has happened.

With his bright smile reaching from ear to ear Naruto began his long story to the old man, starting with what had happened just that previous night.

"Well you see I had decided to spend the night along side of this beautiful little flower patch that I found just a couple hours away from here. The forest floor was alive with these beautiful Japanese Anemones. After resting for a few hours I heard someone running quickly through the lower branches and come to a stop near where I was."

"I decided to try to get a good look at the man before I approached him, but seeing the Konoha symbol and one of your scrolls on his back I figured he was a friend of yours, obviously I was mistaken."

He proceeded to tell the sandaime the enter fight, after he finished he looked up and asked,

"Hey, Oji-san, why did he keep calling me the Kyuubi though. It doesn't make any sense to me?"

Sighing the Hokage realized that he didn't really have much of choice anymore.

"Naruto, on the day you were born, the great Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked our city. The entire ninja force battled valiantly to stop it, but they were being utterly destroyed. In a desperate last attempt to beat it, the Yondaime Hokage used a forbidden technique to destroy the demon. Unfortunately he did not have the power to kill the demon outright, so using the united wills of all his dying comrades, he sealed the great beast into you, where it resides to this day, being slowly destroyed."

Naruto's eyes clouded over, as he was deep in thought. He remembered that vision that he had all those years ago, of the giant blue sphere, with a raging monster at its epicenter.

With a sad smile, Naruto replied,

"Well at least I know what it was that I saw that day then"

The old man was surprised that Naruto was taking the news as well as he was. Looking at the boy before him he smiled.

"Naruto, I'm sure your exhausted, why don't you go sleep today and tomorrow afternoon I'll take you out for some ramen ok?

Naruto excitedly jumped up exclaiming his love for ramen.

Laughing again the old man began talking once more.

"Well if that's settled then I'll have the Anbu you met at the gates show you to your new apartment."

Naruto looked at the old man,

"Actually, if its not too much trouble Oji-san I'd prefer to live in the forests. I've spent the better part of seven years sleeping under the stars, and I've become rather used to it."

The old man looked a little confused but acquiesced to the young mans request.

"Of course Naruto-kun, I'll have him show you to a small wood near the academy that you may stay in."

As Naruto thanked the old man and left, Sarutobi could see the figure of Iruka making his way into his office,

"Iruka, good timing, I was hoping that you would come to visit me soon. There are some questions that I need answered. Come here take a seat," Bid the old lord.

Iruka looked quite haggard, but unfortunately it seemed that whether he really wanted to be here or not, he didn't have much of a say in the matter.

As if sensing his exhaustion, the old man began to apologize.

"I'm sorry that I made you come here before getting some proper rest, but the council made me agree to inform them immediately upon Naruto or the scrolls return. Fortunately enough for me though they happened simultaneously so I only have to meet with them once." He said with a small honest smile

Iruka let out a small chuckle; the Hokage had no qualms about sharing his general dislike for the council.

"Of course Hokage-sama, but what is it that you would like to know, surely Naruto already told you about his fight?"

"Yes he did, but I felt it pertinent to back up his statements with a trusted chuunin's testament so that they council may be more willing to accept him back."

Nodding in agreement Iruka began to tell his story,

"Well after you sent out the search parties, I noticed that Mizuki had long since disappeared, and after working with the man for so many years I had become rather used to his chakra, so when I found traces of it in the forest I immediately began to pursue."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow,

"Iruka, are you telling me that after the scroll was reported missing, you took off, by yourself and followed your fellow teacher through the forests for close to twenty miles, on a mere thought?"

Iruka had the decency to smile sheepishly, with a small blush appearing on his scarred face.

"Well you see Hokage-sama, since I knew Mizuki used to be part of a tracker squad, I honestly assumed that being as hot headed as usual just took off following a trail by himself. I did not expect him to have the scroll."

The Hokage nodded in understanding,

"Fair enough I suppose, Mizuki was very good at keeping his true feelings to himself, not even I expected that he would do something like this. So please, continue your story."

"Well after a couple hours I found Mizuki at the edge of the forest, near a small field of flowers. I was about to approach him to see what was going on, when suddenly a small figure appeared out of the underbrush. Since I feared that this may be the thief, I opted to stay in hiding so that if Mizuki was ambushed, that I would be in a better spot to cover him"

Once again, the Hokage just nodded in understanding,

"Makes sense, you were facing a possibly unnamed opponent and you opted to stay hidden in case things went south."

"Yes, well anyways. I heard the smaller figure begin talking to Mizuki as though they were friends or something, which I found odd. It wasn't until he turned to face Mizuki that I realized who he was. I am ashamed to admit it, but when I saw Naruto there, with the scroll near where he came out of hiding, I assumed that he may have been the one to take it."

The Hokage looked at him,

"Believe it or not I can understand Iruka, years of the masses hating that child have lead even the most stout of heart to sometimes question the boys intentions, but I assure you, that while he may not necessarily love this village, he would never intentionally damage it."

Iruka looked up, slightly surprised the old Hokage was so accepting.

"Well as soon as Mizuki saw the boys face, he just lost it. He immediately began attacking the boy without reserve. Initially Naruto was on the defense and completely confused, he believed that Mizuki was a friend of yours because he had your scroll. When Mizuki denied it and began saying something about wishing you were dead, I think Naruto then understood what was going on."

The Hokage looked up to the young man sitting in front of him.

"So you saw the actual battle between Naruto and Mizuki then?"

Iruka nodded in the affirmative,

"Yes, Naruto showed some exceptional skill with that scythe that he has. Although I have no clue where he stores it, I never saw him carrying it, and immediately after the fight, it seemingly disappeared again."

The Hokage was a little surprised by this as well, but he had more important things to gather,

"So Iruka, what can you tell me about Naruto's fight, what where his skills like?"

Iruka understood immediately what the Sandaime was looking for, he wanting to know how strong that blonde enigma really was.

"Well honestly for a kid he was exceptionally quick and his skills with his scythe are formidable, I saw him use one simple ninjutsu but that was it. He showed some ability to battle without his weapon though too. Overall he is very good for such a young age. I would probably place his power somewhere around low chuunin or so."

The old man was taking a few notes about the boy to place into a file for his jounin sensei,

"I see, so your saying that somehow a low chuunin grade fighter took down and higher chuunin, without being injured at all?"

This surprised Iruka, he hadn't really thought about it, but Mizuki was rated as a higher-level chuunin.

"Honestly I think the biggest reason that Naruto was able to win was because of how distraught Mizuki was. Had he been thinking more clearly, I don't think Naruto would of faired so well."

At this the Hokage nodded sagely,

"Well consider yourself fortunate Iruka, you we in a highly disadvantageous situation and you managed to come out of it with only mild exhaustion. Go home, clean up, get some sleep and then come back here at around 18:30 to help me put together the new genin teams alright?"

Iruka stood up, and gave a light bow to the Hokage, and began the long walk back to his apartment.

The Hokage pulled out a small ebony box from a desk drawer and pulled out his old pipe. Packing it carefully, he lit it, and puffed lightly on it to get the sweetened tobacco lit. Once that was done, he drew a familiar black box from the drawer and pressed the small triangle again, and began listening to the quiet song, that Itachi had given him all those years ago.

Smilingly slightly at the thought that Naruto had finally returned, he watched the quiet city slowly become alive as its residents slowly ventured from their hovels.

'Well' thought the kindly old man 'I suppose its time to go meet with the council'

With that he summoned a nameless Anbu to send out a summons for the council.

Sighing aloud the Anbu heard the old man swear

"Well so much for having a good day…"

--

Having reached his destination, Naruto was more than ready to resume the sleeping he was doing in the field all those hours ago. The Anbu briefly turned to address Naruto.

"Well here is the small forest that Hokage-sama has set aside for you. If you need anything you can find me at the main gates, just ask for Bear, the guards will know who you are talking about."

With that the Anbu disappeared is a puff of smoke.

Naruto looked around the small but dense forest that edged a rather secluded park. It was remarkably peaceful. He was amazed by the city he had returned to, it was a far cry from what he had remembered. It seemed as though all knowledge of his existence had begun to pass from the minds of the common men and women of the city.

Placing his stuff in the upper branches of a particularly lush willow tree, he opted to go explore the town a little bit. He needed to pick up a few new clothes; he'd been wearing the ones he had on currently for near two years now.

As he began wandering around town, he found a sign of a small tailor that appeared to be rather new to the town. Walking inside Naruto was greeted by a young couple working behind a counter, painstakingly stitching durable fabrics together. The young lady appeared to be in her mid twenties, and had deep brown curly hair that fell to her shoulders, the man seemed to be of a similar age, but had shorter black hair.

"Hey there, welcome to Iryouhinten, what can I help you with today?"

Mildly shocked by the warm welcome that the young lady offered him he just smiled and responded quietly.

"I'm about to start as a genin within the next few days, and I was hoping to replace my clothing before then. The stuff that I have is in rather rough shape"

Leaving the young man to continue sewing, the lady came in front of the counter and started her way towards the racks that held all the apparel. Signaling for Naruto to follow, the blonde slowly made his way to the rear of the store with her.

Without turning to look at him as they weaved their way through the stacks of clothing she began to ask him questions.

"So what kind of clothing are you looking for?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly,

"I honestly don't know, I've never bought clothes before, my Oji-san always just gave them to me."

The lady raised an eyebrow at that, but brushed the comment aside, she enjoyed helping customers; it just so happened that this one was a little eccentric.

"Ok then well you said you were planning to be a shinobi right? So we'll start off there, what kind of pants do you want?"

Thinking out loud, Naruto responded,

"Well I kinda like the style I have at the moment. Do you have anything similar to these?"

Looking at the boy's pants, she instantly recognized them as being similar to the normal pants worn by jounin or chuunin. Nodding in the affirmative she led her young customer towards a large rack in the far corner.

"We have a lot of pants like those, any particular color your looking for?"

"Black is fine, it doesn't show dirt and stuff as bad as the other colors."

Looking at the mass of folded black pants, she turned to him again.

"Ok so what size do you need?"

Smiling sheepishly Naruto responded,

"I really don't know, like I said, I never had to buy my own clothes before."

Smiling kindly the women pulled out a small white tape measure and waved the boy over.

"Well then get over here so I can measure you."

Naruto was blushing slightly at the close contact with this young lady. Noticing how uncomfortable he was she decided to try to take his mind off how close she was with some mindless small talk.

"So I haven't seen you around here before, are you new in town?"

Deciding to go with the conversation Naruto responded,

"Kind of, I used to live here a few years back, but I left for a while."

Smiling as she finished writing down the last few measurements, she looked back up at him.

"So what's the name of the young man who shows up at our door so early in the morning."

Tensing slightly, Naruto sincerely hoped that she didn't get mad after hearing his name.

'I'm Uzumaki Naruto"

She responded with that light smile that she seemed to always wear,

"Well I'm Hitomi, and that man behind the counter over there is my husband Nobu."

Sighing in relief that the woman didn't get mad at him, he didn't even notice that she had finished all the measurements.

"Well here are the pants that you need. How many pairs were you looking at buying?"

Brought back to his senses Naruto quickly replied

"Just three should be fine."

Handing him the pants she had pulled off the shelf started leading him towards the section of the store that contained all the shirts.

"Do you know what kind of shirts your looking at buying?"

Thinking back to a man he had met briefly along the borders of Amegakure, he remembered a type of shirt that had caught his eye.

"Actually I saw this shirt that a guy was wearing that was skin tight, but wicked away moisture really well. Do you have anything similar to those?"

Thinking quickly Hitomi replied

"Yes actually, they're not something that we can make here but we do carry them. Those are easy to buy, they're kind of a one size fits all."

Pulling three shirts off the shelf she turned to her customer again.

'Is there anything else that you need?"

Naruto thought for a minute, looking down he realized that he was definitely in need of some new shoes, the ones he had were tattered and about ready to fall off his feet.

Seeing where he was looking, Hitomi smiled again and said,

"We have a wide variety of footwear as well, I assume you just want the standard black shinobi sandals?"

Nodding his head in agreement, she quickly made her way over to a small stack of shoes, leaving Naruto to peruse the store by himself for a moment.

Making his way over towards the stand that contained all different types of jackets and vests, a long black cloak like thing caught his eyes. It had long deep sleeves and a large number of pockets lining the inside. The tall collar would cover the bottom portion of his face. The only things adorning the front of the cloak were silver buttons, eight of them that held the cloak shut.

Pulling the cloak off the rack, he slipped it on over the clothes he was already wearing, enjoying the warmth that the cloak gave him; he decided that he would buy this too. If nothing else the bagginess of it helped cover his movements, so his enemy wouldn't be able to predict what he was doing as easily.

As he was sliding the cloak back off, Hitomi returned with the sandals that he had requested. Looking at the large cloak in the boy's hands she smiled.

"See, it isn't that hard to pick out your own clothes, now is it? Now come on back up front, so you can buy this stuff, ok?"

Following Hitomi back to the front of the store, he saw the man, Nobu already checking out some of the stuff he had picked out earlier.

Paying for what he had bought, Naruto thanked Hitomi and her husband for the help. Donning his new cloak, he left the store with a smile on his face making his way back towards the forest.

Back in the store Hitomi looked at her husband.

"Did you know who that was?"

Nobu turned to look at his wife.

"Yea, it took me a minute to recognize him, but that was the demon that everyone was warning us about wasn't it?"

Nodding in agreement Hitomi replied,

"Well he did say his name was Uzumaki Naruto, but I don't think he's any demon, he seemed rather sweet to me."

Smiling lovingly at his young wife Nobu agreed.

"He doesn't seem to want to cause any trouble, and if he's always as nice as he was today, he's welcome in our store anytime"

--

The Hokage was looking forward at the door that leads to the council chambers. He knew he had to go talk to them, but that didn't mean that he was looking forward to it.

Opening the door, he found the head of every prominent shinobi and civilian clan sitting at the table already.

Silently wondering to himself he tried to figure out why the hell the Nidaime ever let civilians on the council of a shinobi village. But what was done was done, nothing he could change about it now.

Settling into his chair at the head of the table Sarutobi addressed the crowd.

"Early this morning we were fortunate enough to of collected the Forbidden scroll that was stolen yesterday. Fortunately a dear friend of mine found the thief, Mizuki, some twenty odd miles outside of Konoha. After realizing that Mizuki had stolen the scroll, he confronted him and took the scroll back, by knocking Mizuki unconscious."

The council looked happy with the outcome of yesterday's disaster. Hoping that their happiness would cloud their thoughts, the Sandaime almost swore aloud when a nameless civilian asked,

"So who caught the traitor then? He should be rewarded for his efforts."

Sighing to himself the Hokage realized he really didn't have much of a choice anymore; he had to tell them about Naruto's return.

"Uzumaki Naruto found him, originally he thought that Mizuki was a friend of mine, but after a brief altercation it became evident to him that he had the scroll without my authorization"

Immediately there was an outcry, mostly coming from the civilian side of the council.

"Surely the demon was the one who stole the scroll then not Mizuki, he was obviously trying to free himself. We should kill him now before he uses what he learned."

Another cried

"It must be stopped. He's already powerful enough to kill that chuunin, and he didn't even go the academy."

Now the old man was becoming mildly disgruntled, he had really hoped they would handle the information better than this.

Quieting the council by standing up.

"Quiet all of you. That boy is no demon, and he did not steal the scroll. We have a trustworthy eye witness that saw the whole altercation and has spoken on behalf of Naruto, backing up his claim."

The ever stoic Hyuuga Hiashi calmly replied,

"Well if the boy is not at fault then, what do you plan to do about him? As you stated he is not a demon, but you cannot say that it isn't dangerous to let him meander the countryside anymore. There are too many people who would use him against us."

Sighing quietly the Sandaime replied,

"I intend to make him a genin, and place him in the new teams that have been formed. We have eight graduates presently, adding Naruto will give us the right amount to make three even teams."

Once again the civilians and a few ninja began to argue with the Hokage about making such a decision. He quickly squashed their rebuttal though.

"You are overstepping your boundaries councilmen. You may run the vast majority of the inner workings of the city, including the academy, but you are not authorized to say who I can or cannot enlist into my military."

Realizing that no matter what they would say would make a difference to an old man, the council quieted down.

"That is everything that we needed to meet for today. I wish you all a good day, but I have other pressing issues that I must attend to."

With that the old Hokage stood and made his way out of the council chamber.

--

Back in his forest, Naruto was beginning to unpack his stuff under the large willow tree. He set up his cloth hammock high up among the branches of the tree, and tied a rain fly up over the top of it to keep the winter rains, that would be coming soon, off of him.

After that he changed into his new wardrobe. Rather happy with how it all fit he began slipping stuff into the countless pockets of his robe. He didn't really carry all that much, about a hundred feet of thin wire he had bought years ago called fiber wire. In his side pockets he slipped a few throwing knives and a couple shuriken in.

He never really had a use for kunai like most ninjas seemed to prefer. When it came to hand to hand combat he preferred to use his scythe to a kunai. So instead he learned how to use the more aerodynamic throwing knives.

Pocketing his wallet and the rest of the equipment that he carried with him, he turned and looked at the sun. Seeing it was nearing noon he decided to make his way back to the Hokage and see about what he would be doing now that he had returned to Konoha, and maybe see if he could trick his Oji-san into buying him ramen.

--

Making his way up the agonizingly long stairway that lead to the lobby of the Hokage's office. Naruto greeted by a long line of people all waiting to get in to see the old man. Taking his spot near the end of the line, the bear masked Anbu caught his eye.

"Naruto-kun, Hokage-sama was hoping that you would be returning this afternoon. Come on up front, he said to let you in as soon as you arrived"

Making his way up front, Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the faces of all the aristocrats that had been waiting for hours to have an audience with the Hokage, when suddenly a boy comes along and is ushered inside as if he were the Daimyo or something.

Inside the office the Hokage was just saying goodbye to some random villagers who were complaining about shinobi using their roof as their own personal runway at night.

A smile instantly adorned his face though when he saw Naruto walk in through the open door.

"Naruto-kun, good to see you again. I'm glad you came back today."

Naruto just returned the smile with a bright smile of his own and settled down into a chair across from the man's desk.

"I was just wondering what I was going to do now Oji-san?"

The Hokage smiled, it seemed as if the child could read his mind sometimes.

"Ironically that is exactly what I had hoped to discuss with you. As I'm sure you've realized, I can't let you leave the village as you please anymore. Your little escapade with Mizuki seems to have drawn you some attention. So I was wondering if you would be interested in becoming a genin with this years graduating class."

Naruto smiled at the old man

"Oji-san you were planning from the start to have me be a genin, that's why you had me come back before September right?"

The Hokage laughed, he really couldn't slip the details past this kid if he wanted to.

Naruto continued talking.

"So when do I meet with the team that I'm going to join?"

The Hokage looked down at the papers on his desk, seemingly looking for some bit of information.

"Well it looks like Iruka has set the team assignments for tomorrow afternoon at 13:00. So you'll find out your team then ok?"

Naruto stood up,

"Sounds good Oji-san, but now if I remember correctly you still owe me a free meal from all that time ago."

"Indeed I do, but before we go I need to give you your forehead protector, so that everyone can know that you are an official shinobi of this village.

Smiling, Naruto took the black clothe with the engraved metal plate on it and tied it around his forehead.

--

The rest of the day had been relatively uneventful. Mostly just lounging around his tree, slowly digesting the massive quantities of ramen that he had ingested the day before. But as one o'clock worked its way around, Naruto stood up and began making his way down to the academy.

Upon arrival he made his way up to the room that his Oji-san had told him about yesterday.

'Hmm… Here it is, room 325." Walking in Naruto was slightly surprised by the few students that were actually present. Taking a seat near the back of the room, he quietly awaited for the remainder of his class to appear as well.

He watched as the rest of his class appeared. Most of the students appeared to be completely no descript, however a few seemed to show more so than others.

The first to appear was a rather quiet girl. She wore a heavy fur lined coat. Here eyes looked almost white at first glance, but upon closer inspection he noted them to actually have faintest lavender tint to them.

The second to arrive was a boy who wore a long brown trench coat, with his collar popped up to hid his face, similar to how Naruto wore his own collar. He also has a pair of midnight black sunglasses on. The boy walked in and took a spot in the back near Naruto.

Next was another boy, this one walked around like he owned the damn place. Naruto didn't know anything about him, but he instantly had a slight dislike for him. Or it may of just been the duck butt haircut that he had, wasn't really sure, but he knew something was a little off about him.

Next a pair of what appeared to be banshees in disguise ran in. They obviously couldn't be human because no human he had ever met was near as annoying as these two. In particular the slightly taller blonde one was aggravating. The pink haired one didn't seem quite so bad; at least she didn't look anorexic. Instantly after they walked through the door though they began fighting over who got to sit next to duck butt.

Only seconds before one o'clock two more boys walked in. One rather large one who was still finishing his lunch who had the most peculiar spirals tattooed on his cheeks who was almost dragging his friend in. The other one was a taller, rather skinny boy, who looked to be almost half asleep, and indeed the moment they sat down near Naruto he began to nod off.

Finally a minute or two after the class was supposed to start and feral looking boy with a small puppy riding on his head ran through the door, dodging the eraser that Iruka threw at him. He took the first seat available.

It took most of them a couple minutes, but eventually it seemed that the larger boy noticed Naruto. Nudging his friend you could here him whisper

"Hey Shikamaru, look over there, who's that new guy? I've never seen him before."

Lazily turning his head the boy now known as Shikamaru looked at him for a moment and suddenly asked.

"Hey, why are you here? This class is for the new genins, but I've never seen you here before."

Naruto stared at him for a moment before pointing his hand at his head saying,

"Well, I just got placed into Konoha as a genin so, old man Hokage told me to come here to get assigned a team."

Shikamaru looked like he was about to say something else when he finally just said,

"Ah forget about, probably too troublesome anyways." And with that heartfelt explanation he flopped his head back down onto the desk and promptly fell back to sleep.

The larger boy behind reached over his friend Shikamaru's head and offered Naruto a handshake.

"Hi, I'm Chouji, sorry about my friend here, he thinks everything is troublesome, but he really is a nice guy"

Smiling at the larger boy's cheerful demeanor Naruto shook his hand and said

"Nice to meet you Chouji, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

After a brief chat about nothing in particular, Naruto was glad to know that there were at least a few nice people in his graduating class. Maybe this being on a genin team wouldn't be quite as bad as he once thought.

The class suddenly quieted down as Iruka turned away from the other teacher he was talking to and began to address the class. The anticipation in the air was heavy; all the other students here had been studying for years waiting for this moment.

Iruka began giving some long-winded speech to which Naruto paid no attention, it was something about being faithful to your friends and village and some other stuff like that, he'd heard it before from Oji-san.

Finally he got to the portion that Naruto and the others had been waiting for, the team assignments.

Iruka had already listed off a few names that Naruto didn't expect to remain genin long, but soon he heard his own name get called.

"Ok, Team Seven will be comprised of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto looked at the class trying to determine whom the other two members of his team were. Seeing the pink haired banshee jump up and start yelling something about true love to the blonde banshee, Naruto deduced that she must be the one called Sakura. The boy sitting a row in front of them with the duck butt hair cut groaned in irritation, so Naruto figured he must be the third member of his team.

"Your jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

Iruka then began to read off the other names,

"Team Eight will be made of Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba, your sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai"

'So pale-eyes, sunglasses, and dog-boy will be on a team together.'

"Team 9 is still in rotation so team 10 will be comprised of Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino with Sarutobi Asuma as your jounin sensei"

'Chouji, Shikamaru and the other banshee get Oji-san's son for a sensei'

Iruka finished reading off the last few names and looked up, "Your jounin sensei should all be here shortly, I wish you all the best of luck"

After Iruka left a group of older ninja walked in and started calling for different teams to go with them. After about fifteen minutes or so, the only team left in the room was team seven.

Deciding that it may be best if he got acquainted with his new teammates, Naruto made his way down towards Sakura and Sasuke.

Smiling he waved a hand to get their attention.

"Hey guys I'm Uzumaki Naruto"

The pink haired banshee looked up at him with surprise, quickly followed by what appeared to be hatred.

"I know who you are, you're the reason my Mom lost her job a few years back, and she said you're the reason the Dad got killed to."

The Uchiha just looked at him and bluntly said

"I don't care who you are, just stay out of my way"

'Right, guess that could of gone better' Settling back into a chair nearer to the front he sat and patiently awaited the arrival of their jounin sensei.

--

Three and a half hours later he was still patiently waiting for their jounin sensei to arrive. Well not so patiently anymore, Naruto had taken to using chakra to cut small pictures into the tabletop. The Uchiha was still brooding, staring out the window with the banshee chatting his ear off about nothing.

Finally the door opened and a man with silver hair that defied gravity stuck his head through the door. He was surprised that the team was still waiting.

'Damn I hoped if I waited long enough they would all be gone. Then I could just make us some excuse and get the council to let me take Sasuke as an apprentice. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to get the other two to drop or something instead.'

Turning his attention to the other two he sees the blonde seemingly tracing shapes onto a desk, he didn't notice that he was actually carving into the desk. Turning his head to the side he sees the pink haired girl chattering the ear off of Sasuke.

'Great and I have an idiot demon and a pink haired fan girl for the meantime.'

Sighing loudly he walked into the room.

"First impression, I don't like you, meet me on the roof."

And with that he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

--

Several minutes later up on the roof, Kakashi addressed them all again.

"Right well we're supposed to be a team so normally we'd do introductions right now, but to make it go faster I'll just do them for you.

I'm Kakashi, I like a lot of things, and I dislike some stuff, I have few dreams but I don't feel like sharing them with you."

He points to Sakura,

"Your Haruno Sakura, highest classroom grades with mediocre physical grades, low chakra, good control"

Pointing to Naruto,

"Your Uzumaki Naruto, didn't attend the academy, but got placed into the program because the Hokage likes you."

Naruto looked kinda pissed at this, but decided not to say anything. He'd dealt with people like this before, and he found it was normally easier just to go with it and try to prove them wrong at a later time."

"And you" Pointing at Sasuke "are Uchiha Sasuke, top of the class, highest grades in everything, and called a child prodigy"

"Now that that's out of the way, meet me at training ground seven at six tomorrow morning, for your real genin exam. It has a 66 fail rate, so I don't expect that you'll pass. Oh, and don't eat anything, you'll just throw it up."

With that he leapt over the edge of the roof, landed on the ground, pulled out a small orange book and started walking away.

Sasuke was the first to leave followed shortly by his pink haired fan girl. Naruto turned towards his forest.

'Ok, maybe I was wrong, this will suck…'

--

Conveniently enough for Naruto, training ground seven was bordering the southern tip of the plot of land that the Hokage had granted him.

Waking early, he prepared a simple breakfast of some left over fish that he had caught the night before. If nothing else, living by himself for so many years in the wilderness had made him very self-sufficient.

Donning his black cloak, he made his way through the treetops to meet his team at the training grounds.

Arriving just before six, he was surprised to find that Sakura and Sasuke were already waiting there, but their sensei was nowhere to be seen. Given the slightly shaky encounter he had with his team the day before, he decided that it would be in his best judgment to stay hidden in one of the large trees around the border of the area.

Looking around, Naruto examined the training grounds that he was sure to be using later. Overall it was a rather nondescript plot of land. It had the standard logs in the ground at one corner that you could use for taijutsu practice. The bulk of the ground was fairly flat, however there was a small creek that fed into a pond at the other side. Behind the logs he was able to make out some type of black stone, but he was too far away to be able to see it clearly.

Finally after ours of waiting, their sensei finally decided to make an appearance.

Looking at the sun, Naruto figured it to be around 10:30 or so, possibly a little closer to 11, but the slight overcast was making it difficult to tell. Leaping down from the tree, he began walking towards the group.

Kakashi seeing him coming started explaining what was going on.

"Well now that Naruto has decided to grace us with his presence, I can finally get started."

Naruto was getting a little fed up with Kakashi already, the man had the gall to show up almost 5 hours late, and then yell at him for making Kakashi wait thirty seconds.

"Today we'll be testing to see whether or not you are fit to be genins. On my belt I have 2 bells. By noon you have to get a bell from me using any means necessary. If you do not get a bell, you will be sent back to academy or dropped from the program completely."

Sakura voiced her concerns immediately,

"umm… Kakashi-sensei, does that mean that one of us will be sent back to the academy for sure?"

"Not necessarily, you may be dropped completely, but I already told you that so just listen to what I tell you and stop asking useless questions."

Looking at the entirety of the group Kakashi finished his explanations,

"So, if you intend to get a bell from me, I suggest you come with the intent to kill, or else you will find yourself in a rather painful situation rather quickly. Ok, the clock is set, we start… Now!"

With that Sakura and Sasuke jumped off into the trees, leaving Naruto alone with Kakashi in the field.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, genin units operate in 3 man teams, so how does that fill the standards set forth by the Hokage and the council if you decided to take a team of two people?"

Kakashi turned to him with a cold eye,

"Questioning me is none of you business Naruto, you will do as you are told. If you intend to pass this exam then I would recommend you begin immediately"

Seeing he wasn't going to get anywhere by just talking to the man, Naruto decided to go with the first plan he had come up with, even though he was relatively certain that it was going to hurt… a lot…"

With a quick dash forward, Naruto was hoping to catch the jounin by surprise by switching from talking to attacking quickly.

Sadly he was mistaken. Kakashi saw the sprint, and brought his foot up to stop the blonde, by planting his foot into the kids face, rather firmly.

Naruto was lifted off his feet, several feet off the ground, he had expected the jounin to retaliate, but not to this measure. Naruto knew he stood no chance against a jounin in an outright fight, but he hadn't expected Kakashi to use such force in a test.

As Naruto was still in the air, reaching the apex of his unexpected journey, Kakashi appeared before him giving a solid roundhouse kick to his sternum, sending him flying back into a large tree at the perimeter. Once he landed he felt a wire tighten around his ankle and pull him high into the air.

Blood flowing freely from his nose, and nursing what he believed to be several deeply bruised ribs, Naruto was not having a good day. And now to top it off, his 'sensei' was mocking him for falling into a trap.

"Naruto, you never should have fallen into a simple trap like that snare. Any decent academy student would have easily avoided it."

Becoming enraged Naruto retaliated by yelling

"Yea but the average kid doesn't have someone with ten plus years of experience wailing on him like he was damn enemy"

Any mirth that was in Kakashi's eye suddenly disappeared,

"You have no right to lecture me Naruto, you would do well to learn your place here."

Kakashi, in all his years of experience was not quite prepared for what he saw next.

Yelling in rage, and large scythe appeared in Naruto's hand, and severed the line tying him in the tree. Kicking himself from the tree Naruto sped at the jounin swinging his scythe forward in an effort to cleave said jounin into pieces.

Kakashi, quickly gathering his wits, grabbed the scythe, much like Mizuki had. Naruto followed in fashion and tried to kick Kakashi in the side, only to find Kakashi's free hand slamming into his stomach sending him flying back into the tree, where two kunai from Kakashi pinned the shoulders of his cloak to the tree.

Now Kakashi was yelling at Naruto,

"You see! This is why you are a worthless ninja, you attack without discretion, you have no talent, and without the Hokage's favor you would be no where."

Now Naruto was beyond pissed. Almost no one in his life had ever given him anything, so to accuse him of something like that bit deeply.

Ignoring his pain Naruto made a single hand sign and started channeling chakra.

Now Kakashi had been told by the Hokage that he had given Naruto a scroll with a lot of chakra control techniques and a few jutsus, including a few more dangerous techniques like kage bunshin, but that did not prepare him for what he saw next.

Pulling his hands out of the ram seal, Kakashi heard Naruto yell,

"Ninpo: Futatsu Kenbue no jutsu" (Two Swords Dance) whipping his hands around, Kakashi was amazed to see his two kunai were cut cleanly in half by this technique.

Falling from the tree, Naruto steadied himself; he didn't have much energy left so he would only be able to use this technique for a minute or two at most.

As Naruto steadied himself, Kakashi took a moment to study whatever technique it was that Naruto was using. He could see glimmering slightly in the air there looked to be two thread like things coming from Naruto's hand. Upon closer inspection they really resembled something akin to chakra strings, similar to what the Suna puppet users used. However this technique was different. There was a lot of chakra packed into those strings, and it was controlled very tightly giving the strings the apparent ability to cut through almost anything.

Suddenly Naruto whipped his hands behind him and started sprinting forward, once within reach, he swung quickly to one side, bringing the chakra string in his right had forward rapidly, like a whip.

Kakashi jumped up out of the way, only to see a second whip coming from above. Leaning back around this one, Kakashi was surprised to find the first string was coming up from underneath while Naruto snapped the string that he had just dodged like a whip. Using a quick kawarimi Kakashi escaped the reach of the blonde's "swords".

As soon as Naruto saw Kakashi replace himself, he knew it was over, he didn't have the energy to keep the technique up any longer. He had plenty of chakra left, but the beating he had already taken was starting to take its toll on the child.

Seeing the strings fade, Kakashi appeared behind the blond and swept his legs out from under him. As Naruto was falling Kakashi kicked him in the side, sending the poor blonde rocketing towards the training logs. He slammed hard up against the logs, breaking a few ribs, and his left arm. Crumpling to the ground Naruto lay there unmoving.

Kakashi strutted slowly towards the blonde. He was watching him intently; twice already the blonde had gotten up from attacks that would take out most chuunin. As he got near Kakashi started taunting the blonde again.

"You see Naruto, you may act all big and scary, but when it comes down to it, your nothing. You missed the complete point of this test. Sakura and Sasuke are waiting at the edge of the forest waiting to trap me, but you leapt right in, you didn't even realize what the point of this-" he was abruptly cut off by a laugh coming from the beaten child at his feet.

" Test was teamwork, I know. Kakashi you were so blinded by your hate for me that you completely disregarded your own exam. But I beat you anyways. When I used my Futatsu Kenbue no jutsu I cut those damn bells from your belt and threw them towards Sakura and Sasuke. I took one for the team Kakashi so that the rest of them would live. We passed your damn exam."

Kakashi looked down and saw that what Naruto had said was indeed true, the bells were not on his belt, and both of the others had one in their hands. Turning abruptly on his heels Naruto heard him shout.

"Be at the mission room at the Hokage tower at 13:00 tomorrow. Sasuke, you meet me here at 07:00 tomorrow morning."

Naruto thought he heard Sasuke reply something along the lines of "What about the other two."

Kakashi replied in a short pissed off sentence.

"They don't matter right now. Sakura your dismissed, Sasuke, meet me at training grounds 23 in two hours."

As everything began fading into darkness around the blonde, Sakura heard him mutter,

"Damn bastard…"

She looked at the blonde enigma feeling slightly torn. She knew her mother blamed Naruto for everything that happened, but she couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. He had just taken on hell of beating, that, despite it this being an exam ,seemed rather personal.

Her mothers voice sounding in her head, she decided to leave Naruto where he lay. He would be better by tomorrow…

--

Finished with chapter two, I had a little extra free time from what I was expecting today and got it written up. This chapter is a little longer than the last, just around 10800 words or so. Here's a short description of the attach that Naruto used for those of you who wanted a little bit more in depth idea of what he used

"Ninpo: Futatsu Kenbue no jutsu" (Two Swords Dance)

A technique that looks similar to the chakra strings used by puppet users, in fact at first glance they are identical. The only noticeable difference is that it has a lot more chakra packed into it that is held at a tiny diameter. The tiny string is similar to the chakra scalpel in that it can cut through a most materials causing great damage. The down side is that it takes a lot of concentration to keep up, but it can be devastating.

Next chapter will be some simple missions followed by the bridge arc. Hopefully it will be different from what you've read before. I know how annoying it can be for a story to follow the canon too closely, but I assure you that after the bridge arc things will begin to change from the canon rather quickly. So until then just read, review, tell me what you think. I honestly don't know what anyone is going to think of this story.

See ya next time,

Mechen Manachewagan


	3. Chapter 3 The First Mission

After Naruto had slipped into a state of peaceful unconsciousness, he was greeted by an sight that he had not seen in several y

After Naruto had slipped into a state of peaceful unconsciousness, a sight that he had not seen in several years greeted him. In front of him stood the same small ebony doorway that he had seen so many years before.

Looking above him, he was surprised to see that the same blue pipe was still present, only significantly larger than he seemed to remember it.

Reaching forward, he grabbed the small brass handle on the door, and pushed it open. Walking into the consuming darkness, he felt the door close behind him and disappear into oblivion.

There was a difference though from last time. Last time he remembered being faced with what he now believes to of been the seal that held the demon at bay. This time however, there was just profound darkness. Not even sound seemed to penetrate the enveloping vacuum of space.

Growing nervous, Naruto tried to yell, if only to hear his own voice, to reassure himself that something existed in this vast plane of nothingness. But the darkness smothered even his own voice.

For what seemed like hours he drifted through the nothingness. Hearing, seeing, tasting, feeling, nothing in this all-consuming space.

From the darkness came a spark of light that grew quickly, enveloping everything. Seeing the brightness rush towards him, Naruto panicked. However he was currently unable to do anything about it. He had no control over his own body.

After the rush of light, he could see swirling masses of colors, reds, oranges, blues, magenta, all radiating from a bright white epicenter.

And then it was gone. In a blink of an eye, he was standing back outside the ebony door, staring at the handle he had just opened earlier.

Confused, he tried to open the door again, only to find it jammed shut. The handle had turned hot to the touch, and then the door began to fade.

--

Waking up in a cold sweat, Naruto almost fell out of his tree when he heard a quiet voice next to him.

"It's scared of you, you know."

Jumping out of his hammock, Naruto landed on the ground, turning to face the voice that was addressing him. Expecting an attack or something of the like. He was surprised though to see an old monk; dress in traditional Taoist robes facing him. Looking up to the mans face he peered into his eyes. They were a heavily clouded gray. He was blind.

Suddenly the man began talking again,

"I'm sorry to have awoken you child, but I felt that you could possibly use some company on this night."

Naruto was a little confused,

"Why did you think I would need company?"

"Blind I may be, but there is a spark in you that has started a smoldering fire. And I believe tonight, you saw that fire ignite within you."

Naruto was now thoroughly confused; this man was talking as if he knew what Naruto had seen.

Hearing the old man moving Naruto looked at him again to see he had sat down upon a rather large rock on the ground. Signaling for Naruto to sit down as well, Naruto sat and rested up against the tree he had been sleeping in earlier.

"The world is watching you child, you may not see it, but I'm sure you feel it, the calm before the storm. He is awakening, and you will meet him soon, but it is not for me to reveal him to you."

Naruto began to understand that whoever this man was, he apparently knew what was going on.

"Who am I really? Why do I remember things that are not mine, there are things that I have done, without ever having learned them. I see things, as if I had been there, even though I have never seen them before."

Waiting to hear a response Naruto only heard the man say quietly,

"Only when one lets go of who he is, can he become who he might be"

And with that he was gone, as if he had never been there. If not for the small glint of metal sitting where the man had been sitting been just moments before, he would of written it off as a illusion of the night, or from a possible concussion from Kakashi kicking the shit out of him.

Walking over to the stone, he was surprised to see a pair of rings sitting there. Picking them up, he instantly recognized the rings as the pair he always kept locked in his old apartment. He had completely forgotten about them.

Staring at the cool blue metal, he felt that same sense of familiarity that he felt every time he used his scythe. Jumping back up into his tree, he stared at the stars until sleep claimed him again.

--

Waking up the next morning, he wasn't surprised to find all his wounds had already healed. He had always been quick to recover. Slowly getting back out of his hammock, he dropped to the ground and donned his black cloak.

Slowly stretching the stiffness of morning away, Naruto set to get some breakfast. He didn't have anytime the day before to collect any more food, the day before, he was too busy bleeding, so he was forced to have to into town.

Turning towards the path that leads into the Konoha commercial area, Naruto began the trek.

Passing through the town at such an early time was strange. For such a large town, there was almost no one out. Granted he knew it was early, but it wasn't that early. Walking past a few houses, Naruto looked through some of the windows and smiled.

Inside one was a young woman, holding a little girl who couldn't be more than three. The young lady gently stroked the child's strawberry red hair as she set the small child down to feed her breakfast. The smile on the child's face was beautiful.

'There are times I can understand why Oji-san loves this place so much' Finally reaching his destination, Naruto could see the small ramen shop just head.

Ducking under the curtains he saw an old man beginning the arduous task of making noodles, while his teenage daughter began bringing the different broths to a simmer.

Looking up from the noodles the old man put on a grin and welcomed him saying

"Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen, we'll be with you in just a minute if you want to take a seat at the bar."

Sitting down Naruto contentedly watched the Father daughter duo get the shop ready for the day.

Still smiling the old man walked forward,

"Now what can I get for you today?"

Naruto's smile threatened to split his face,

"I'll take five miso ramen followed by three pork, followed by two shrimp ramen."

The man's jaw threatened to drop,

"Oh, you want these to go then. You must be getting them for your entire team or something."

"Nope just for me" he replied with a stupid grin plastered to his face.

Naruto spent the next hour sharing pointless banter with the two as they continued making ramen. It was heart warming for Naruto; this was the first time he could remember someone actually welcoming him in the morning. He wondered if this was how the little girl that he had seen in the window felt every morning.

Leaving the ramen stand with a content look on his face, he headed back to his forest to start his morning training session. He had been training by himself for years so far and had turned some decent results, might as well continue.

--

Reaching the tree, Naruto wasted no time summoning several kage bunshins to spar with.

Summoning his scythe, he made a simple hand sign, while muttering the name of the technique

"Kirigakure no jutsu" A thick mist enveloped the forest he was fighting in. He had been working on this technique for quite some time now. After having heard from a wandering ninja how effectively some mist ninja were by utilizing this technique, he took it upon himself to learn it.

He had long ago realized that ninja inherently fell under three different categories; you had heavy assault ninjas, such as Kakashi, guardian ninjas, such as the Hokage, and finally assassins, such as the Aburame or Yamanaka.

While it made sense for a ninja to specialize in one of these three departments, the strongest ninja were able to hold their own in several aspects. For instance Kakashi has always been primarily a heavy assault ninja, working on the front lines of battles. However he is fully capable of assassinations, just his techniques may not be quite as subtle as those of the Yamanaka clan.

Naruto had long since accepted that his calling was also to the heavy assault genre. This led to his creation of his Futatsu Kenbue (Two Swords Dance), which could cut through multiple opponents with relative ease. His scythe was more than anything a fear factor. It has always been used in mythology as the symbol of the soul reaper. Which is what lead him to learning the hidden mist technique.

Lets face it, seeing a person walk out of the dense fog with a bloodied scythe hanging over his shoulder and ice cold blue eyes was something that could send a chill up the spine of almost any warrior.

The downside of said technique is that in the hot air that envelops most of fire country during the day makes the hidden mist technique completely useless, since the chakra necessary to keep the mist from evaporating would be ridiculous. Which is why he didn't use it the day before, which subsequently led to an incredible ass kicking.

The second skill he had been working on was something that he had found in a scroll that he found in the pack that Oji-san had given him. It was written by someone name Uchiha Itachi.

Who ever the person was though was a freakin genius. He had spent time identifying sixty-two separate minor movements that were known to cause fear or anxiety to anyone that saw them. By using certain stimuli consecutively he was able to magnify the technique, which would culminate in freezing the opponent in terror.

Combining the three things that Naruto had, his scythe, the thick mists, and fear stimuli, he had an incredible combination that could be used in either assassinations or in a combat situation.

He had attempted to use fear stimuli the other day upon Kakashi, but that had been a mistake. Kakashi was already angry at him, so by adding fear to that made him mildly more unstable, thus the complete and utter lack of control when he subsequently retaliated, that or Kakashi just really didn't like him.

Really though the only other thing he had learned throughout his journey was his Futatsu Kenbue (Two Swords Dance) which he had quite honestly made on accident after practicing chakra strings.

His Oji-san had given Naruto a large quantity of scrolls, but most of them were on chakra control and stratagem. Very few were on any techniques outside the realm of the ones taught at the academy.

All this led to the resultant that was visible as Naruto began to systematically destroy his own clones.

Like a demon of the shadows Naruto quickly took to the branches, opting to hide and cause confusion throughout the forest before he struck.

He may consider himself a heavy assault, but he was not normally one to run head on into battle. Normally he preferred to cause discord within the enemy first and then strike in their moment of weakness. It had always served him well when fighting bandits as a child. When he was small he was never able to use brute strength to overpower his opponents, which is what led to him playing the game of cat and mouse that he uses so effectively now.

Dropping down silently over the top of one clone, he swiftly cleaves him in half from left shoulder to his right hip. The other four spun on their heel, only to see Naruto slowly sinking into the earth near where one of the other clones had just been.

"Damn' thought Naruto, 'I've finally started getting the hang of this Doton: Dochuu Eigyo (Underground Fish Projection) that the old man gave me, but I still can't move around as quickly as I would like.

Popping out of the ground behind a second clone, he quickly took the clone's legs out from under him, finishing him with a swift chop to the neck. Taking to the trees a second time, he maneuvered behind the third clone.

Taking out a few throwing knives, he attempted to dispatch this one from a distance. Up until this point things had been going very well, except now the clone heard the knives coming and was able to replace himself with a log. Now the three remaining clones new exactly where he was.

Knowing his attempt at stealth had now failed Naruto quickly leapt into a nearby open field. Twirling around he hurled his scythe at an incredible velocity towards the first clone to appear. The scythe turned buzz saw just barely missed the clone by a few centimeters, but it stalled him long enough to prepare his next technique.

Ninpo: Futatsu Kenbue no jutsu (Two Swords Dance) cried the blonde as he faced off against his last three adversaries. The strings swept across the fields cleaving small bushed, grass, and one of the clones in half. To this day the power of this technique never ceased to amaze Naruto.

Now that his clones were all disposed of, Naruto had every intention of going back to his camp for lunch. However that is when the Anbu showed up again.

Turning around Naruto nodded in greeting,

"Bear-san, how can I help you today"

"Well, I saw the fight between you and Kakashi the other day, and I figured that you might like a few pointers, since it seems Kakashi won't be giving them out willingly."

Naruto smiled, despite knowing nothing about this man, Naruto liked him. The bear masked Anbu treated him like a normal genin, instead of a worthless demon.

"Hey, Bear-san, how come your nice to me. No one else ever is?"

The Bear masked Anbu turned around,

"Well, honestly I guess I see a bit of myself in you. We both have powers that don't really seem to belong to us, and both of us were ostracized for said power. The only major difference was that I had some one to help guide me, and I figured that maybe you would like the same."

Naruto smiled,

"Thank you, you have no idea how much that means to me."

Sitting down at the base of his tree they began to talk about Naruto's fight the prior day.

"So Naruto do you know why Kakashi beat you so easily?

Naruto lowered his head as if he were ashamed of the fight.

"Honestly I'm not sure what went wrong. I knew Kakashi was talented but I never expected him to be able to dodge around my Futatsu Kenbue as easily as he did. He made it look like child's play, moving as fast as I could I was barely able to get those bell."

Bear looked at him,

"It has nothing to do with talent Naruto, by all rights you are more talented than Kakashi is. You've managed to learn an incredible amount by yourself at a very young age without anyone to watch over you. Plus your first original jutsu kicks ass. No, he beat you because of experience. Experience will beat out talent at every turn. There was nothing in your arsenal that you could throw at Kakashi that he hadn't seen before. Even your Futatsu Kenbue is very reminiscent of watching a puppeteer work his art. By simply watching your hand movements he was able to predict almost every move you made, before you even made it."

Naruto hung his head,

"So after all that training I put myself through I still can't defend myself…"

At this the Anbu actually stood and slapped Naruto across the top of the head.

"Baka, no twelve year old ever would be able to hold his own against someone who is as talented and experienced as Kakashi. You could easily take on most chuunin in this village and win, but against someone like Kakashi, you've got a few years left."

Standing up, Bear looked at the young prodigy,

"Now that we're done with this, how about we work on your taijutsu some? It seems like you'd be much more deadly if you increase your speed."

As they began walking back towards the field Bear turned his head towards his head towards Naruto and asked,

"Hey Naruto, you ever heard of training weights?"

Naruto looked at him quizzically,

"Umm… No, why?"

With a small sinister chuckle he heard Bear reply,

"Oh, no reason, but I think I have a gift for you."

-- (3 hours later at the Mission Assignment Room)

Naruto began the long arduous task of dragging his now seventy-five pound heavier ass up the massive amount of stairs towards the mission room.

'Sadistic Bear-teme, just cause I heal quick doesn't mean you should be strapping extra weight to me every day…'

Grumbling to himself he made his way into the room to see the rest of his team waiting for him, well everyone except Kakashi anyways.

Sitting down on a bench near his team, he closed his eyes attempting to catch a quick nap before they had to start their mission. But alas it was not meant to be, for only moments after closing his eyes he heard Kakashi's voice saying,

"Well let's get this mission done with".

Groaning as he stood up, Naruto made his way over to the rest of his team.

"So what are we doing today Kakashi-sensei?" asked the pink haired girl.

Kakashi replied "Well today I actually took two missions for us, since I decided our team would work better in two man groups working together instead of a four man unit. Sasuke and I will be taking this mission, while you and Naruto take this one."

With that Kakashi and Sasuke turned around and left, leaving a confused pair of genin staring at the small scroll with a large red D printing onto it.

"Hey, Sakura-san, did you see any mission scroll with Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei when they left?"

Sakura thinking for a moment replied,

"No I didn't why?"

Naruto's face looked a little pissed,

"I think he's ditching us again so he can train more with Sasuke, I don't think there was a second mission."

Scoffing, Sakura turned to her sole remaining teammate and responded,

"Sasuke-kun would never do something like that, I'm sure they have something important that they are doing too. Now come on lets go outside and figure out what we have to do for this mission."

Following her outside, they stopped just outside the tower and began reading the mission scroll.

Mission Rank: DMed

Mission type: Escort

Mission Length: 3 Days

Specs: Himura pottery requested small escort team to escort a load of fine pottery to small town located 46 Km south of Konoha. Reports of small band of bandits has owner worried. Expecting no encounter with any missing-nin and only small quantities of bandits. Bandits not believed to belong to any larger group, small time thieves only. Customer will pay for overnight residence at local hotel for ninja.

Departure Time: 2pm

Assigned Team: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto

Naruto turned and looked at Sakura,

"Well I gotta admit it's better than what I had been expecting, I honestly expected something along the lines of walking a dog or something."

Sakura however didn't look as pleased as Naruto

"Yea, but bandits on our first mission, we haven't had any training outside of the academy stuff since we graduated, this seems a bit much for us."

Naruto turned to her shocked,

"Wait you haven't done any training since graduation?" Seeing Sakura shake her head in the negative he responded, "When we get back you and me are going to start training together then. If we have to work as a two person team, we may as well be good at it right?"

Sakura nodded her head dumbly,

"Good, then I'll meet you at the gate in a half hour to meet our client"

And with that the blonde haired boy took off towards his tree to gather his belongings.

Sakura began walking towards her house thinking to herself,

"Why would he care about my training? Mom definitely said that he would probably try to kill me and my teammates the first chance he got. Maybe it's a trap or something."

--

Half an hour later Sakura was walking towards the gate, looking ahead she could just make out Naruto talking to a larger brown haired man.

"Hey Naruto" Greeted Sakura "Are you ready to go?"

Naruto turned "Yep, I was just talking to Himura-san here, he's our client."

The larger brown haired man turned to face Sakura. He was easily about six foot tall, with short cropped brown hair. He had a healthy tan and although large, he was not what one would call fat. He was just built like a brick wall.

Naruto began talking again,

"Himura's plan is to walk about half way to Fukuoka, finish getting there tomorrow morning, then we stay with him throughout the transactions and escort him to Tanzaku, which is a few kilometers to the east of Fukuoka where we'll spend the second night. Then the third day we'll be coming back ok?"

Sakura nodded her head.

"Sure, sounds like a plan to me"

The three began heading down the road. Sakura took a seat in the cart with the client, while Naruto walked alongside of them, keeping an eye open for anyone that may decide to try and jump them.

Himura, sitting next to Sakura decided to start some small talk to pass the time.

"So Naruto told me that you two just graduated less than a week ago?"

"Yea, we're actually part of a 4 man unit but we decided to split to get more accomplished"

The man looked at her slightly quizzically

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the 4 man unit if you split it up into partners?"

"Not really, it allows us to work as individual units during a fight if we need to."

Himura was still a little confuses but decided to change subject

"So what can you tell me about your partner, Naruto. I was talking to the guy earlier, but I didn't really learn anything about him."

"Hmm… In all honesty I can't say that I know all that much about Naruto either, he lived outside the village until just a few weeks ago so no one really knows all that much about him."

Pulling out a small black book with red binding Sakura began reading to pass the time.

Becoming bored the man decided to initiate some more conversation.

"What book is that?"

Sakura looked up from the book,

"It's a book about some old legends from the elemental nations. This one in particular is about 'The Reapers'."

"The Reapers? Sounds like a cheap horror flick or something. What is it about?"

Himura did not expect the kind of response he got from the girl. It would never be said that Sakura was necessarily the strongest kunoichi ever, but she was definitely one of the brainiest ever, and asking her about details of a book, meant you were going to be sitting there for quite a while why she explained it to you, whether you really wanted to know or not.

"Its not a horror book at all. The author of this book was studying old texts in Iwagakure and came upon a old scroll talking about a pair known as 'The Reapers" apparently the pair had been sent to earth by God to destroy the heathen gods that had begun to spring up around the nations. That's why they earned they're other nickname, 'The God Killers'. However it seems that something happened between the two because one of them suddenly disappeared from all knowledge. The only evidence that we have that there ever was two of them in the first place is that the first written text about them always talks in the plural form and at one time even mentioned that the two worked together seamlessly to bring down their adversaries."

Taking a breather, allowed Himura to get a word in edgewise,

"So do they know what happened to them then?"

"Well legend has it, that the first of the two became one of the fallen, which a name given to angels who fall to darkness, its believed that the other one eventually followed the first into darkness, but past that nothing is really known about them."

Himura asked, just to keep the conversation going,

"So do these two have names? Or are they lost to history as well?"

Sakura flipped to a page about half way through the book.

"Well the second one, that didn't disappear was apparently named Amaranth."

The man looked at her, quirking an eyebrow,

"Amaranth? What the hell kind of name is that, I've never heard that one before."

Sakura flipped through the pages looking for an explanation,

"Actually I'm not entirely sure where the name comes from. It may be from an ancient language or something."

Surprisingly it was Naruto, who spoke up from behind them,

"Amaranth is a poets word for the imaginary unfading flower"

Sakura turns to look at her companion,

"And how on earth would you know something like that?"

Naruto just responded, "Well I like flowers, and anyone who has traveled as much as I have is bound to of heard of the flower Amaranth."

Himura looked at her,

"Well what can you tell us about this Amaranth character?"

"Amaranth was said to have been a tall man who wore long black cloaks. He apparently used a weapon of some sort because all his victims were said to of been beheaded, but no one ever reportedly saw said weapon. Really there isn't much known about them, which is why this guy wrote the book."

Nodding his head, Himura went back to driving his cart in peace and quiet for a while. They still had a few more kilometers to travel before nightfall.

-- Back in Konoha

Sasuke was currently doing wind sprints across a field while Kakashi threw dull kunai at him from a distance. They had been training for the past few hours and Sasuke was beginning to get very tired.

Finally Kakashi yelled out.

"Ok Sasuke bring it in, we're done for the day"

Sasuke walked over to Kakashi,

"So where are Naruto and Sakura?"

Kakashi looked up from his smut book,

"I sent those two on a mission, they should be back in 3 days or so. It keeps them out of our hair for a while. Besides you don't really want to do those D rank missions anyways, they're boring as hell. So we'll train for a while till your ready to start on the C rank missions."

Sasuke nodded and set out on the next task set for him by Kakashi.

--

Naruto, Sakura and Himura were making their way towards the area they planned to stop for the night. Sakura had pointed out on the map that it looked like a good spot because it has high ground and the bandits have not been sighted around that area.

Reaching the apex of the hill Naruto called for the group to stop.

"Himura-san, Sakura believes that this spot will be the safest for us to stay tonight and I agree with her. We should be just a few miles outside of the bandits territory, so it should be safe here tonight, but regardless Sakura and I will take turns keeping watch through the night."

Himura nodded and replied,

"That's fine, I'm getting tired anyways and I know my oxen would appreciate a rest and some food." Stepping down from his seat on the cart the man turned to Naruto. "Naruto would you help me unhitch the oxen so I can set them out to pasture for the night?"

As Naruto went to help Himura, Sakura picked up the packs and said,

"Well if the two of you are going to go do that, then I'll go set up the tents and get dinner started. I think I'll make camp under that cedar tree over there."

Himura called over to the girl,

"Don't worry about setting a tent for me, I'll just be sleeping in my wagon"

Setting off to the different tasks at hand, the group parted ways for a short time. As Naruto began to help Himura unhitch the team, Himura began another conversation with the teen.

"So Naruto, that girl Sakura over there, are you two a couple or something?"

Naruto sputtered,

"What the hell would give you that idea?"

"I don't know, just seems kind of odd to me that two young teenage ninja would be working together like you two do if you weren't dating or something."

Naruto just shook his head,

"No, Sakura and I are just teammates, and in all honesty it seems as if she actually doesn't like me at all."

"Oh, why would that be, did you do something to her. Because you know they say hell hath no wrath like a woman's scorn."

"No, I didn't do anything to her. It just so happens that through a series of unfortunate events, that something close to me brought her family a lot of sorrow. In fact it's the reason that most of the city seems to dislike me."

Himura looked over to where Naruto was fighting with a rather suborn buckle on the ox's harness.

"So if you don't mind me asking what exactly happened that caused so many people to dislike you?"

Naruto's eyes seemed to cloud over just a little bit,

"Actually Himura-san that is something that I would prefer to not talk about."

Himura just nodded,

"Fair enough, every man has his skeletons"

--

Sakura was under the large cedar tree, she had set up the small tent for herself to use. Looking into Naruto's bag she was surprised to not see a normal tent, but some sort of small hammock. Not knowing how to set something like that up she just left it for the blonde and began making a simple dehydrated soup for them to eat.

Staring past the flames at the distant tree line of a forest, she watched the sun as it just began to dip into the western edge of the world. She began to think about where her life was beginning to take her.

'A couple of weeks ago I never would of imagined myself sitting by a fire as a real ninja making food for Naruto of all people. My entire life Mom has been blaming him for everything that happened to us, but in all honesty, the more I get to know him the less that I hate him.'

Stirring the slowly rehydrating beef in the pot, her stomach turned a little bit.

"God, I know these dehydrated meals have gotten better, but they still look bad when you're making them"

She was surprised to hear Naruto behind her.

"Yea I know what you mean, next time I'll try to get some small game or something as we go so we don't have to eat this stuff again."

She turned to look at the blonde behind her and then back at the field where she was sure she could see Naruto helping Himura bring the oxen out to the eat and sleep for the night.

"Umm, Naruto how are you talking to me, when I'm fairly sure that I can see you down there?"

Naruto turned to look at her,

"Oh that, I'm not actually Naruto, I'm one of his shadow clones. He had me and a couple other clones check the area around us and see if we could find any signs of the bandits. It seems to be all clear. I just figured I'd give you a heads up before I tell the boss."

Sakura just looked at the now identified clone'

"So your not real?"

"Well I'm not the original if that's what you're asking, but otherwise for all intents and purposes I'm the real thing."

Sakura just nodded her head slowly,

"Ok then, well tell Naruto and Himura-san that dinner should be done in a little bit, but Naruto is going to have to set up his own tent cause I didn't know how to set up a tent like his"

The clone just nodded its head and replied,

"Ok consider it done" and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

--(With Naruto and Himura)

Naruto looked up and said,

"Sakura should be done with dinner in a few minutes. I'm sorry to say that it's not necessarily the best food out there, but as far as trail food goes its not half bad."

Himura just nodded his head,

"Ok sounds fine, but I'm going to need your help getting the cart up to the campsite."

--

Sakura just about wet herself laughing. She watched as Naruto dutifully pulled the cart up the steep hill while Himura rode in his seat. As Naruto got closer she called out to him.

"Hey Naruto wouldn't it of been a lot easier for you to unhitch the cart up here and bring the oxen down there instead of the other way around."

Slightly irritated by being used as a beast of burden Naruto just yelled back,

"Yea but apparently Himura-san thought otherwise"

Sakura just called back,

"Well at least now we know if being a ninja doesn't work out for you, you can always be a pack mule."

Scowling, Naruto just sat down next to the small fire and began stretching his back out. Himura began setting up a small tarp over his wares and his sleeping area on his cart. Sakura walked over to where Naruto was sitting.

"Hey Naruto, sorry but I wasn't able to get your tent set up, I've never really set up a hammock or anything and there aren't any small trees around to tie it up between."

Naruto just stared at the fire and responded,

"Don't worry about it, I'll set it up in the boughs of the cedar later after dinner."

With that Sakura just went back to preparing dinner.

Soon enough Himura made his way over to the fire with three small bowls and a couple sets of eating utensils.

"Figured that since you two did most of the work today the least that I could do was get the bowls and stuff out and since I conveniently sell them for a living I had a couple with me."

Sakura just smiled at the man and thanked him for helping. Himura looked around and asked.

"Hey where's Naruto?"

Sakura looked up and was surprised to see that Naruto was no longer sitting behind her. Looking around she spotted him high up in the cedar tree looking out at the horizon.

'I didn't even hear him get up while I was cooking, let alone climb all the way up a tree."

"Hey Naruto come on down, dinner is just about ready"

Jumping down from his spot in the tree, Naruto landed just a few feet away from the two sitting by the fire. Himura looked to him.

"Naruto, what were you doing way up the tree?"

"I was just looking around seeing if I could spot any other fires, because that would tell me if anyone else is nearby. I didn't see anyone else so as far as I can tell there is nobody else anywhere to close by."

Sakura was a little amazed by this because she had never even thought to look around like that.

"Naruto, where did you learn to do look for groups like that? It wasn't taught at the academy."

Naruto just scratched his head sheepishly,

"It's something I picked up while living out by myself for so long. It doesn't really help to find any ninja or someone try to be sneaky, but otherwise almost every other group that you come across will build a fire at night to cook dinner, so if you look for a fire or smoke you can tell where someone else may be located."

Sakura just replied, "Makes sense I suppose, I'll have to remember to check for that from now on."

With the conversation done the sat down on the ground and began eating the soup that Sakura had cooked. True, it wasn't great soup, but at least it was warm and filling. After they finished dinner, Himura stood up and excused himself saying that he was going to go clean up some and then head to bed, leaving just the two young teens around the fire.

Naruto was again looking at the sun as it was just disappearing over the western horizon. He turned to Sakura.

"I can take first watch tonight, I'll wake you up sometime around two or so to take over."

Sakura readily agreed and made her way over to her tent.

Naruto just walked back up the tree to begin tying up his hammock

--

Sakura was frustrated. She had fallen asleep just two hours before without any problems, but know she was wide-awake and couldn't fall back asleep. She didn't want to admit it to anyone, but she was a little scared. Deciding to go outside and get something to drink she unzipped her tent and put her sandals back on.

Stepping outside the tent, she looked around for Naruto. Her water bottle was empty since she used it to make dinner so she was hoping to get some from him instead of having to walk to the bottom of the hill to refill hers at the small stream.

She finally spotted Naruto at the high in the tree again. It looked like he was deep in thought staring at the skies. Jumping up into the branches, she walked out towards him.

"What are you doing up Sakura, you still have a couple hours before your watch" asked Naruto without looking away from the sky

Startled Sakura just replied, "How did you know it was me?"

"Well I heard the zipped on your tent a little bit ago, but besides that, you smell distinctly like a blooming cherry tree, I've never met anyone else that smells like that so it narrows it down pretty quickly."

Blushing lightly from Naruto commenting on her smell, even if it wasn't in a condescending way. "Anyways I couldn't sleep and I was wondering if you had any water left that I could have"

Naruto tossed her his water skin and she took a seat on the branch a few feet away.

After a few minutes Naruto just sighed, "Are you going to tell me what you're so worried about or do I just have to sit here in this awkward silence forever?"

Sakura just turned towards him. "What makes you think I'm worried about something?"

Naruto just shrugged, "I've spent the better part of my life having to observe everyone before I approached them so that I could tell if they were scared, mad or sad so that I could have an idea at whether they would chase me away or not. Guess after a while I got good enough at it to do it without meaning to, so anyways what's eating you?"

Sakura looked away from him,

"I've never actually been away from home before, and I figured that my first trip outside the village would be with a jounin-sensei, not the boy who ruined my families life."

"Fair enough I suppose, but just so you know Sakura, even though you may not like me, you are my teammate and I will do my best to protect you and our client if something happens. So whether you like me or not, can you at least trust me?"

Sakura didn't reply right away. Hesitantly she said,

"I know I shouldn't but I'll try to"

Naruto just smiled and went back to looking at the sky. After a few more minutes of silence Sakura began talking again.

"What are you staring at exactly? There's barely any moon out tonight at all so you can't really see much can you?"

Naruto just turned to her.

"When I was growing up in the area around fire country I met up with a wandering Taoist monk for a while, he was always telling me how humans could relate to things in the wild. I guess I just picked up the habit."

Confused by his response, Sakura asked him what he was talking about.

"Well tonight for instance I came up with this one about heroes. The sun is like the great figurehead during a peaceful time. There is no darkness underneath the sun, it warms everyone and keeps us all in the light. But eventually darkness will come. Then we have the moon; it shines like beacon when the sun goes out. It may not keep us warm, but it does light the world until the sun returns. In that way it's a lot like our Hokages who brought us through the great wars."

Sakura was mildly impressed by the depth of what the young blonde was talking about.

"But Naruto, once a month the moon fades from the sky, so then what happens"

Naruto looked at her,

"Then all you have are the stars. Nor the brightest of the celestial beings, but it lights the world, when all other lights go out. In that way the star is greater than the sun or the moon."

Sakura just looked up at the stars twinkling in the night sky.

"Hey Naruto, where did you learn that clone thing that I was talking to earlier?"

"Those? They're called Kage Bunshins for all intents and purposes they're the same as me. They can use chakra and physically hit someone because they are solid, but it only takes one good hit to dispel them. I use them quite a bit for scouting, ambushing and sparring"

"Why would you spar with clones? That can't be the best way to fight?"

"Probably not, but since no one would train me or spar with me it didn't leave me with much of a choice. So over the years I've learned to just do almost everything myself. Its just easier for everyone that way."

Sakura turned to the enigmatic boy besides her,

"Just what did you do that made everyone hate you then?"

Naruto's eyes suddenly looked a little deadened,

"I think you should try to get a little more sleep yet tonight Sakura, why don't you head to bed, I'll wake you in a few hours to take watch."

Sakura nodded he head and began making her way down the tree.

As she lay in her tent on the verge of falling asleep she thought to herself,

'For being a demon brat like mom says, he's really not all that bad sometimes, but there is definitely something he's hiding.' And with that thought she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

--

As Naruto continued to watch the stars he suddenly heard another being land on the branch near him. Turning to look he saw a large black raven staring at the sky.

"Guess you're here to keep me company tonight. Well its fine by me, I don't really like being alone all that much anyway."

And with that he and the raven spent the next few hours in silence until he had to wake up Sakura.

--

Morning came all to quickly for the young blonde, keeping watch was a necessity, but the downside is that it limited how much sleep a small group was able to get. Looking over the edge of his hammock he saw Sakura tent moving around a bit, so he figured that she was already awake and getting ready to go.

Sliding out of his hammock, Naruto quickly untied it and stuffed it back into his pack. Once he was done packing most of his gear he set to making the breakfast that they had planned.

Pulling the bag marked breakfast out of the gear bag Naruto was a little happy to see that it read 'Oatmeal'. Oatmeal may not seem like the best breakfast ever, but it was far superior to the horror that is powdered eggs. Grabbing the pot he realized that since Sakura drank a good portion of his water the previous night, he didn't have enough to make the oatmeal, so he made his way down the hill to collect some water at the base of the hill.

Meanwhile Sakura left her tent just in time to see Naruto making his way down the hill. Noticing the pot in his hand she assumed that he must have been going to get more water.

'Well if he's getting the water for breakfast I guess I can get the fire started'

Pulling out the small book of matches that she keeps in her pack she went to collect some tinder and kindling to light a small cooking fire. As she began collecting limbs she tripped and dropped her book of matches into a small puddle of mud. Swearing to herself she said

"Dang it! Those were the only matches that I had. I guess I'll have to see if Naruto has any matches."

Making her way back to the campsite she deposited the firewood and walked over to Naruto's pack. Opening the small pouch on the side she quickly found a small metal box that looked like a box of matches.

Opening it she was immediately a little bit surprised by the contents. Inside were two small metal rings, one metallic blue and the other icy silver. Picking them up she instantly dropped them to the ground.

'Damn, that silver one is colder than ice.'

Looking at her hand she could see a small circle that appeared to be frostbitten. Looking again at the rings she was enthralled by them. They seemed very simple. A band of treated metal with a flat surface at the top with what appeared to be a small-engraved infinity symbol in them. Picking up the one that didn't freeze her she examined the symbol a little closer,

'It looks like a infinity symbol, but one of the middle lines doesn't connect, making it incomplete.' (A/N if your wondering what the symbol I'm talking about looks like you can find a picture of it here naturesintention.ca/ESW/Images/infinitysymbol.jpg)

"Those are my rings Sakura," said Naruto coldly

Startled, Sakura jumped and dropped the ring back to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I was looking for matches and I thought that the box that the rings were in was a match box so I opened it, but when the rings dropped into my hand the smaller one froze my hand, it was so cold."

"Those rings are the only clue that I have about where I came from Sakura, please don't dig through my stuff without asking me ever again. I lost them once and I don't want to lose those rings a second time."

Bending down Naruto picked up the silvery ring that was lying in the dirt. Standing back up he held out his hand expectantly. Sakura realizing what he wanted quickly handed back the other ring. Naruto then picked up the small box and deposited the rings inside and placed them into a pocket in his cloak.

"Hey Naruto, what was that symbol on the rings? Do you know what it means?"

Naruto just sighed,

"I have no idea what that symbol means. I've never found it in any sort of reference book or anything so I don't know."

Turning around Naruto pulled a small book of matches out of his pack and tossed them to the pink haired girl.

"Here you can keep them, I normally use a small Katon jutsu that the old man taught me to light fires anyways."

--

The rest of the morning passed without anything of real significance happening. After hitching up the team of oxen the merchant and the two genins were back on their way towards Fukuoka. Sakura had retaken the spot in the cart with Himura while Naruto wandered along beside the cart keeping an eye out for the bandits.

"Sakura" said Naruto quietly "Remember what I said last night about trusting me?"

"Yea, why?" replied Sakura.

"Up ahead I can make out what appears to be about ten men barricading the road. I think they're the bandits. I'll take care of them, but I need you to stay with Himura-san. Just stay near him and stay calm and you'll be fine ok?"

Now feeling slightly nervous Sakura asked him, "But what will you do?"

"I'm going to try to take them out before they realize what's going on. I'm going to be using some intimidation tactics on them and I need you to help keep Himura-san calm and safe."

Nodding her head once towards Naruto, she turned her head back towards the road. Their conversation had been so quiet that Himura hadn't even heard the two talking.

"Himura-san, Naruto has spotted some of the bandits ahead of us, he went ahead to take care of them."

Himura turned and looked beside the cart to see Naruto still walking there.

"What are you talking about Naruto is right next to us?"

"No" said the pink haired girl "That's one of Naruto's clones that he uses to confuse people. The real Naruto is already almost at the targets."

As she finished her sentence a thick fog began rolling into the small forested road that they were traveling on. The fog continued until it got so thick that she couldn't see things that were more than ten feet in front of her cart.

Then all hell broke loose. Ahead of her she was able to make out shouts of alarm followed by men screaming and the sound of people fleeing. Turning to look at the man riding beside her she looked at their client.

Himura looked like he was scared out of his mind. And in all honesty Sakura was too, she just didn't show it as much as Himura did.

Suddenly from a tree branch above them dropped a man carrying a large barbed club. He looked absolutely terrified and Sakura realized that this man was acting completely on self-preservation. He didn't care at all about what was in the cart, he just wanted to get out of whatever hell Naruto had created.

The man raised his club as to strike Sakura, but she froze in fear of the large man. Himura just jumped from the cart leaving the girl to her own devices. Lost in her own fear Sakura just screamed. Then suddenly from the mist she heard.

"Sakura!"

followed by a hum of a large object being thrown. Through the dense fog came a large silver bladed scythe that stabbed the large bandit in the chest and pinned him to a tree, where he slowly bled to death. As soon as the man had died the scythe poofed away leaving the man to drop to the ground in a heap. Terrified Sakura turned to see a image that shocked her to her very core.

Out of mists in front of her walked a small man wearing a pitch-black cloak with silver clasps on the front. Over his shoulder was a large black handled scythe with a slivery blade gleaming with fresh blood. The man's eyes were such an ice cold blue that they almost looked silver.

Seeing the look on his teammates face Naruto realized that he hadn't stopped using the fear stimuli that he had used against the bandits. Dropping them he quickly saw Sakura relax, but her face was still very ashen. Naruto then spotted their client lying unconscious on the ground besides the cart. It appeared that as he leaped out he had knocked himself unconscious. Looking back to his teammate he was surprised to see her still looking very afraid of him.

Reaching out to her he called "Sakura, are you ok?"

Sakura looked up at Naruto with fear evident in her eyes.

"What was that? Are you really a demon?"

Naruto looked down to the ground,

"I honestly didn't mean for you to see that Sakura, but he was injured and I left him for dead, I didn't expect him to be able to get to you two."

Sakura just shook her head.

"Not that, I saw you walk out of the mist with a bloody scythe over your shoulder and every part of me told me runaway. I was so scared, I thought you were going to kill me too."

Naruto lifted up the poor girls chin to look at her straight in the eyes.

"Sakura, I will never purposely hurt you. You're my teammate and I will try to protect you. What you felt was me using an accumulation of fear stimuli that cause irrational fear in my enemies. I didn't mean to use them on you guys."

Sakura just hugged him tightly and started sobbing into his chest. Naruto was taken aback at first; it wasn't the reaction that he had been expecting. Hate, fear, or just outright shock he had expected, he had seen those in people before, but this was something that was completely new to him.

That's when he finally realized what the problem was.

"Sakura, this is the first time you've seen someone get killed isn't it?"

Sakura just continued sobbing but she distinctly nodded her head.

Naruto was attempting to make the girl feel better, but he was failing miserably at it. The only thing that Naruto could think of to do was rub her back slowly as she continued to cry.

"Its ok Sakura, they all ran away now, but we have to get moving before they come back ok? I need your help getting Himura-san back into the cart so we can get to the town. Can you help me with that?"

Naruto figured that maybe giving the scared girl a task would take her mind off of what happened.

Sakura slowly let go and made her way over to where Himura was laying; with Naruto helping they lifted him into a two man cradle carry and brought him over to the cart. Laying him down where he slept the previous night, Naruto looked over at Sakura.

"Sakura, I can drive the cart, but can you stay in back with Himura-san and take care of him, it's possible that he may have a concussion and your probably better with first aid than I am."

Sakura just nodded her head dumbly and went about getting their client into a better resting position. Naruto sat down in the drivers seat and got the cart started down the long trail towards Fukuoka.

--

Several hours later they arrived in the town. Himura had woken up about an hour before but Sakura insisted that he stay resting in case he had any injury that she had missed. As they entered the town, Naruto directed the cart towards the hotel that they were supposed to be staying in. Stepping off the cart he turned around and helped their client off the cart, while Sakura just gracefully jumped off the side.

Naruto was pleased to see that Sakura had gotten a hold on her emotions for the meantime. He figured that they would come to a head later when their client wasn't around, but at least for the moment they had a sense of normalcy.

Walking into the small inn, Naruto walked up to the hostess behind the counter and picked up the rooms that Himura had reserved for their trip. As it turned out Himura had requested a single room for himself and an economy two-bed room for the two ninjas. The only small up to their economy room is that it had access to a small onsen that was shared with the room adjacent to their own, so they may have to share it with someone else, but at least they had a place to relax for a while.

Sakura and Naruto escorted their client to one of his partner's shops so that he could exchange some wares before heading out to Tanzaku the following day to sell them. Leaving their client to their own devices they began walking in the general direction of their inn.

"Hey Sakura, how about we go back to the room and clean up then go get some dinner. I don't know about you but I could use a bath and a good meal."

Sakura just smiled and agreed quickly.

After getting back to their room, Sakura quickly grabbed a large white towel that was hanging on the rack and went to the changing room loudly proclaiming

"I get first bath Naruto"

Seeing as Sakura had ran right into the onsen, Naruto just sighed and took his cloak off and began washing the blood off of it. Hearing a slamming door he turned his head to see a darkly blushing Sakura standing there in nothing but a towel.

Covering his eyes to maintain her sense of modesty he asked,

"Umm… Sakura what are you doing"

She stuttered a response

"T..tthere are o..other people in the bath"

Naruto just laughed,

"Of course there are, were in an economy room, you didn't think that we'd have a private bath did you?"

Sakura lowered her head and mumbled

"I knew that, but I didn't expect the onsen to be co-ed…"

Naruto just asked,

"Well in that case I'll grab my swim suit and we can head down to the onsen together."

Sakura just blushed even more deeply, if that was even possible,

"That's the problem, I don't have a swim suit…"

Now Naruto blushed just as deeply as Sakura as he realized Sakura's predicament.

"Well, I'll tell you what. I'll go and talk to the hostess and see if I can get something for you to wear. In the meantime why don't you get dressed?"

Quickly leaving the room, Naruto made his way down the corridor towards where the hostess's desk was located. Seeing the young woman leaning on the counter half asleep absentmindedly flipping through a magazine he asked her,

"Excuse me, do you have swim suits that my roommate could use? She doesn't have one here and it's a public coed bath."

Without looking up the hostess just responded,

"We don't have suits that she can borrow but we do have some that are available for purchase."

"Umm yea that will work can I just buy one here then."

The woman turned around towards a rack of plain off white two-piece swim suites behind her.

"What size is she?"

Naruto thought for a second,

"Well she stands about 5 feet 3 inches"

The woman just sighed,

"I mean her waist and chest sizes"

Naruto blushed deeply,

"Umm how about I just give you the money for a suit and she comes down to buy one?"

The woman just nodded and said,

"The suits are 10,000 yen"

Naruto just gaped, knowing full well that the suits weren't actually worth that much and that they were just being charged so much because they jacked the prices up.

Grumbling Naruto grudgingly handed over the money and made his way back down to his room.

Inside he found Sakura sitting there in her usual apparel staring intently at the window.

"They have a suit for you at the counter but I wasn't sure what size you needed so your going to have to pick it up yourself. I'm going to get changed and head down to the onsen, you can just meet me there after you get changed ok?"

Sakura just nodded and headed towards the door, but stopped before she reached it.

"Actually Naruto, can you wait here? There's something I wanted to talk about before we go anywhere."

Naruto agreed to wait, having already figured what it was that she wanted to talk about. She had seen him coldly kill a man right in front of her. Then he accidentally used his fear stimuli on her.

Lying down prostrate on his bed, Naruto wasn't sure how he should handle this situation. In his entire life he had never had to look out for anyone beside himself before, and suddenly he had a teammate that he needed to protect too.

Sakura quickly returned with her swimsuit. Sitting down on her bed she quietly asked him,

"What did you do earlier? You suddenly disappeared and the next thing that I knew there was this thick fog and screaming. Then a guy tries to jump us, and he looked crazed with fear. Just as he's about to hit me, you k..killed him. And when I saw you walk out of the fog I thought for sure you were going to kill me too. Himura-san got so scared that he tried to run away."

Naruto just sighed,

"Well to know exactly what happened you need to know a little more about my past. First off you know I grew up outside the village, but what you don't know is that I spent most of my childhood wandering around Hi no Kuni by myself. When I was young I had a few run ins with bandits who I was not strong enough to defend myself from. So as I grew, instead of relying on brute strength I started learning how to use surprise to my advantage. So I learned a few techniques that allow me to get behind them without being seen or heard. Then I learned how to create that thick fog so I could hide my movements. Finally I learned different ways to strike fear into people. That's what you saw me doing when I walked towards you, I had forgotten to drop the different techniques. I honestly never meant to actually kill any of those men because that wasn't our job, but when one of them was about to attack you I didn't have a choice. I assume that was the first time that you ever saw someone die right?"

Sakura just nodded her head,

"I'm sorry that you had to see that. I grew up having to kill to feed or defend myself, but you never had to. I know you may not believe me, but I do not enjoy killing people."

Surprisingly Sakura looked up,

"I knew that, when I looked in your eyes after the fight I could tell you were sad."

Naruto just nodded his head.

"Now how about we go down to that bath, because I don't know about you, but I know that I stink"

Sakura laughed a little and went into the bathroom to change before they made their way to the onsen.

The rest of the night had gone relatively well. They onsen was relaxing and since Naruto wasn't acting perverted Sakura had a good time too. In fact she was a little impressed with Naruto, because he stood up to a bigger man who had been eyeing her. She smiled as she lay down on the soft bed. She may not want to admit it, but in the past couple of days she had unwillingly turned Naruto from an enemy into a teammate. She didn't necessarily always like him, but he was dependable and honest, and as far as teammates go she was glad to have him. Now if only he wasn't scary as shit when he was fighting.

'Only two more days and I can finally go back to Konoha and Sasuke-kun…' Thought Sakura as she drifted off to sleep

--

The next morning she was surprised to find that Naruto had already gotten dressed and left the room. Quickly dressing she made her way down to where breakfast as served and found Naruto talking to Himura.

Looking up Naruto greeted his teammate,

"Morning Sakura, Himura –san here has decided that he isn't going to be going to Tanzaku. His friend is ill so he decided to stay here for a while and help out. That means that we'll be heading back to Konoha this morning so we can get there by nightfall."

Sakura was surprised by the turn of events, but not by any means mad. After all this meant that she got to return to Sasuke-kun a day earlier than previously expected.

Quickly bidding their client goodbye they began heading back up the road they traveled. Once they had cleared the outskirts of the village they immediately leapt into the canopy of the forest and began the long run back home.

After several hours of non-stop running Sakura called up to Naruto,

"Naruto, I need a break, my legs are killing me."

Naruto leapt down from a tree and settled along side a small stream that was running through the forest. Sitting down on a log near the stream he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small box of pocky, offering one to Sakura as she sat down.

Taking the small stick from Naruto she began nibbling on it as she rested her sore legs.

Looking up at the sun Naruto came to a realization,

"At the rate we're going we're not going to make it back tonight, unless we go till after dark, but if your tired now I don't think that's an option."

Sakura looked up at the sun and was dismayed to see that the blonde was right.

"Yea, but we don't have food for a second night on the road, we were only supposed to be outside over one night"

Naruto just stood up and started walking towards a small densely wooded area,

"No worries, I'll get us some food while you rest, we'll travel for another hour or two before we stop for the night."

Shortly later Naruto returned with a small bag hanging off of his pack that Sakura assumed must have been whatever it was he caught. Looking over to her blonde teammate she said,

"Well if your ready I suppose we should get going, with any luck we can make it back to the campsite we stayed in two nights ago, then it should only be a couple of hours of running tomorrow to get back."

Jumping high into the foliage they made there way the last few kilometers towards their campsite. Since they had taken to the trees instead of the road they were able to easily bypass the area where any of the bandits were supposed to still be located. Noticing this Sakura looked towards Naruto.

"Hey Naruto, why did we go around the bandits territory? They shouldn't be anything to worry about should they?"

Naruto looked over at her,

"Why would you say that? If anything they'd be more dangerous now cause they're probably scared of me."

"Wait, why would the be scared of you? Didn't you kill all of them?"

Naruto looked at her incredulously,

"You seriously thought I killed all those bandits? The only one I killed was the one attacking you. The rest of them I just scared away."

Sakura looked oddly relieved, but Naruto just frowned at her reaction,

"You believe too much of what other people tell you Sakura. Contrary to what the vast majority of Konoha believes, I only kill when I have to, and I consider protecting a friend one of those occasions."

Sakura's eyes widened suddenly,

"I'm sorry Naruto, I didn't mean anything like that…"

Naruto just sighed,

"I know what your Mother thinks of me, and I know that you still believe a lot of what she says, even if you won't admit it to me."

Sakura just looked down towards the forest floor. She didn't know how she could respond to that.

The last few kilometers to the campsite were spent in an awkward silence. Once they reached the tree the immediately began setting up their individual sleeping arrangements, Naruto's up in the same large cedar tree, and Sakura's just below.

Naruto, after finishing his set up, began lighting a fire and cooking what turned out to be several small rabbits on spit over the fire. After they began cooking he walked down to the bottom of the hill to refill the water skins for him and Sakura. Coming back he found Sakura sitting at the campfire watching the rabbits cook intently. Without saying a word he walked up beside her and offered her a water skin.

Sakura gladly accepted,

'Naruto has got to be the strangest person I have ever met. By all rights he should be mad at me. And by what everyone else says he should be a crazed psychopath.'

Feeling a nudge on her side she noticed Naruto was handing her a stick with the rabbit on it.

"I know it's not much, but it should tide us over till tomorrow when we get home"

He said with a smile.

Accepting the small meal she let a small smile grace her face. Looking to the west she could see the sun begin to fade, ushering in the night. Above her she could see a just a sliver of an orange moon appearing.

Sighing contentedly she stood up.

"I'm going to head to bed Naruto, I don't think we need to keep watch tonight. I don't see any smoke or fires around here so it looks like the bandits are long gone."

Naruto smiled at her,

"At least you learned something new" Looking up into the tree branches he then added, "I think I'm going to stay up a bit longer. Music doesn't keep you awake does it"

Sakura quirked an eyebrow at his comment.

"Your not going to start singing, are you?"

Naruto laughed,

"No, God knows I can't sing"

Sakura just chuckled a little,

"So then what do you do?"

Naruto just smirked a little mischievously,

"Guess you'll have to just listen and find out"

Then he leapt into the tree onto a large sturdy branch. Sakura just turned around and began crawling into her sleeping bag, when she heard the most beautifully sad song that she had ever heard begin echoing from outside her tent. It was a simple song being played on what she believed to be a violin. Crawling back outside her tent she saw the blonde high up on a branch, resting against the trunk. He had removed the heavy cloak that she had become accustomed to seeing him wear. Instead he wore just a skintight black shirt with a pair of midnight black pants. Tucked under his chin was an old, but well cared for violin, with an ebony bow. Moving the bow smoothly along the strings Naruto continued to play the hauntingly beautiful song. Feeling something wet on her face, Sakura was surprised to find that she was actually crying.

Slowly climbing up into the tree with her teammate, she took a spot on a branch not far from him as he continued to play. The song seemed to fit the moment so well that it was eerie. As the song began to fade, Sakura was brought back to her senses.

"Naruto, that song was beautiful. Where did you learn to play like that?"

Naruto responded without looking at her.

"I don't know"

"How do you know remember learning to play the violin?" asked Sakura incredulously.

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders. "An old man offered me this violin as payment for helping him clear his fields years ago. The day I picked up the violin I was able to play it"

"So where did you learn that song?"

"I didn't. I wrote it myself."

"You wrote that yourself? But its such a sad song, it actually made me cry"

Naruto turned to look at her, and for the first time she could see a little slip in his mask. His face still looked like normal, but his eyes, his eyes had lost that glow they normally had. They looked dull, almost hollow.

"I spent my entire childhood being either beaten or alone Sakura, it wasn't exactly very happy to begin with"

Her eyes widened,

"Naruto… I'm sorry" before she could continue though Naruto cut her off.

"Don't be Sakura. You gave me a chance, that's more than what most are willing to do. Now why don't you head to bed? I'm going to play just a little longer."

As Sakura made her way back to her tent, she heard the soft melodic tones of Naruto's violin begin again.

Sliding back into her sleeping bag, she fell asleep with a soft smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye. And for once, since the bandits attacked, she actually felt at ease. Falling into a peaceful slumber, she didn't hear the music stop, but it continued on in her dreams, keeping her safe until the grace of the dawn broke through the night.

--

All right I know I said that I planned on starting the bridge arc in this chapter, but I hit over 12000 words and decided to cut it there. It will most likely be a little while before I'm able to write any decent amount. School is so busy right now that it's not even remotely funny. This new section of calculus is kicking my ass. I'll update whenever I get the chance too. If your wondering the song that Naruto plays on his violin is actually simply called Sad Violin. You can find it on youtube, its from FFX. And before anyone asks, no this is not a Naruto/Sakura pairing. The only thing happening between them is some simple friendship.

Please read and review. If you don't review I have no idea what you think of the story. That and lets face it, every author likes to see that someone liked his writing enough to actually leave a review for it.


	4. Chapter 4 An Unforseen Proble

Naruto sighed, this week had not gone as well as he had hoped so far

Naruto sighed; this week had not gone as well as he had hoped so far. All he had wanted to do was to get back to Konoha, eat some ramen, maybe visit the hot springs and start training again. Instead here he was stuck here in front of a jury of his 'peers' for 'leaving' the village. The truly annoying part here is that it seemed less like the court marshal that it was supposed to be, and more like a bunch of old farts trying to get him executed for something stupid that he didn't do. What's more is that they can't even pin this on them they have nothing that they can actually pin on him. The funny thing is considering his current living arrangements, he had never been happier… He had a friend

--(Three days prior)

Naruto and Sakura were roughly 5 kilometers outside of Konoha, when these bastards jumped them.

Jumping to the left Naruto pushed Sakura out of the way as another barrage of kunai peppered the tree that they were hiding in. Grabbing the girl as the fell Naruto yelled over to her.

"Sakura, these guys are too good for us to fight. We have to try to make a break for the village, we're not too far, if we run we should be able to make it in time."

Sprinting into some thick underbrush for cover, Naruto did his best to hide the two of them. Over the years he had become rather good at covering his own tracks, but these guys were way above him.

Sakura was positively terrified; those bandits from the other day had nothing on the people after them now. As far as she could tell there were 5 of them, and had it not been for Naruto's quick mist that he had called up they never would of survived as long as they had.

"Naruto, how are we going to get away? Even in this thick mist they keep finding us."

Naruto just shushed her.

"I have an idea. There's only five or six of them, and no matter where we run they've been able to follow the trail right?" Whispered Naruto

Sakura just silently nodded her head,

"So what if we give them more than one trail to follow."

Sakura looked over at Naruto,

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"I'm going to make a huge amount of shadow clones and have some of them henge into you so that they can't tell who's who, but if they see make them they're going to know which ones are real. So I need you to stay as low and I'm going to make them and then make a distraction."

Crouching low Naruto began making a hand sign when Sakura grabbed his hands,

"Wait, there's a problem with your plan. If anyone of them can track us by scent they'll be able to tell which ones are real and which ones aren't."

Naruto looked down at his left leg, luckily or unluckily as you may look at his, he had been hit with a kunai earlier.

"I can use the blood from where I got hit earlier to cover me, but what are we going to use to cover you."

Sakura looked down, at herself, she hadn't been hit by anything so far, Naruto had kept her safe so far.

"Naruto, does hair carry sent?"

Naruto looked at Sakura,

"Yea it will a little, but not enough that they won't be able to tell you apart from them."

Sakura looked over to Naruto,

"So what if we masked my scent a little bit then?"

"Sure that may work, but what are we going to use?

Sakura looked over to Naruto, she knew what she would have to do, and she just wasn't looking forward to it.

"Naruto you said you heal really quick right?"

Naruto nodded his head in the affirmative, not sure where Sakura was going with this.

"So you have a some blood to spare right?"

Naruto grimaced; now he knew where this was going,

"Sakura, I heal quick, but I can't lose too much blood or I won't be able to do much for a minute or two while I heal."

Sakura looked at him, fear evident in her eyes,

"I know Naruto but we don't have a choice so come on and help me here."

Sakura pulled her long pink hair around in front of her and brought a knife to it and hacked a good ten or twelve inches off of it. Naruto reached over and placed it in a pile by his feet. Pulling one of is throwing knives out of his cloak he made a swift swipe at his left wrist. Sakura, thinking quickly, pulled out a couple large rolls of gauze wrappings and collected as much as she could before the wound healed.

Naruto had never been so thankful for having his fast healing as he was at this moment. The cut healed quick enough that he wasn't feeling to light headed yet. Sitting down for just a moment, Naruto let his body replenish the blood that he had just lost, while Sakura took to cutting the gauze into two-foot lengths.

Standing up again Naruto nodded over to Sakura and began making hand signs again.

"Tajuu Kage Bushin" screamed the blonde, which was shortly followed by a much louder cry of "Henge".

Sakura wrapped several length of the bloody gauze around her waist underneath her shirt, while all the copies of Naruto followed her lead. The now pink haired clones grabbed a few pieces of Sakura's hair. And then all hell broke loose.

One hundred and ninety-eight clones all paired to look like Naruto and Sakura suddenly burst through the thick fog that had enveloped the area. The five Anbu were calling out large destructive jutsus to clear as many as possible in an attempt to find the real ones.

Sprinting for their dear lives, Naruto and Sakura darted through the line of Anbu with several dozen clones making a b-line for the village. But the clones were being cut down quickly.

Bursting through the foliage, Naruto and Sakura were so close to what they believed to be safety that they let their guard down for a moment, the gates of the village were within site when another group of Anbu jumped down and surrounded them.

Naruto holding out his hand summoned his large scythe and took a defense position.

The lead Anbu called out to them,

"Uzumaki and Haruno lay down your weapons!"

Naruto looked over to the man,

"What happens if we don't?'

"We kill you immediately"

Naruto grimaced, looking towards his teammate.

"What happens to her if I give up?"

The Anbu looked at Sakura,

"As of right now it remains undetermined if the Haruno was a willing accomplice or not, so in the mean time she will be held in a minimum security cell until we can ascertain that information"

Naruto looked back at the man,

"So no harm will come to her?"

A man behind the Anbu who had been talking suddenly interrupted,

"No, Naruto, I personally ensure Sakura's safety, but you need to turn yourself in."

Looking behind the Anbu Naruto was surprised to see the Bear masked Anbu that he had befriended standing there.

"Bear-san, what's going on, why were we attacked?"

The Bear masked Anbu slowly walked forward,

"Naruto you've been missing for several days. The council has labeled you as a traitor. The men you are fleeing from are a squad of hunter-nin who were supposed to go retrieve you and bring you back."

Naruto looked at the Anbu in front of him again.

"You swear that if I go, Sakura will be ok."

The man just nodded, while behind him Sakura was having a hard time dealing with the situation,

"Naruto, you don't know what they will do to you, we might be able to escape again, we already did it twice. Don't give up just because of me."

Naruto just turned to look at her,

"You're the first person I can call a friend Sakura-Chan. Right now your safety means more to me than anything."

Turning around Naruto dropped his scythe and threw his cloak to the side. Seeing that he was now unarmed, and unnamed Anbu rushed forward and delivered a harsh punch to his stomach followed by a blow to his neck, effectively rendering him unconscious.

Sakura rushed forward to catch him but was stopped by another Anbu. Struggling against the man, Sakura heard the man, who seemed to be in charge say,

"Haruno-san, if you continue to resist we will take you in by force. Remain calm and cooperative and this will be done much faster ad with much less pain.

Sakura looked over to her friend, seeing him laying their unconscious she dropped to the ground and started crying. She felt someone pick her up, but she didn't know whom. Slowly succumbing to exhaustion she fell silent and was soon fast asleep.

--

Several hours later Naruto awoke with a severe headache, lying on a cold hard bed in a poorly lit cell. Looking around he took in the place he was being held. It was very sparse. The whole cell was roughly 8 feet long and 4 feet wide, with a single cot and small toilet and sink in the back. All the walls were covered with a dull black set of tiles that each had very intricate seals placed on them. Hearing a shuffling behind him he turned to see two men that he knew would help him staring back at him.

Standing up he turned to address them,

"Oji-san, Bear-san, where am I?"

The old Hokage looked down at Naruto,

"You are currently being housed in a double max prison cell beneath the Hokage tower, waiting for your trial to begin."

Naruto looked confused,

"What trial?"

This time it was Bear who spoke up,

"The trial to prove whether or not you are truly guilty of becoming a missing-nin or not."

Naruto looked shocked,

"What do you mean a missing-nin, Sakura and I were just out on a mission"

The old Hokage just nodded,

"Yes and fortunately enough Sakura was smart enough to keep the mission scroll of the mission that I didn't assign"

"What do you mean that you didn't assign?" asked Naruto incredulously.

"What I mean is that, the scroll you have is not any mission that is in the villages mission logs. Also your sensei claims that you and Sakura both disappeared after the first day of training. He was the one who reported you missing two days ago."

Naruto growled,

"That bastard, he was the one who sent Sakura and I on that mission."

The Bear masked man just nodded,

"Yes that is the same thing that Sakura has told us, however Kakashi obviously refutes that claim, saying that he never saw you that morning."

Naruto just sighed and lay back down.

"So what's the chance that I get out of here anytime soon?"

The old man looked morosely at the child he considered a grandson,

"Your trial will be in two days, then within twenty-four hours from there they will announce their decision. However the case against you doesn't seem very strong so I doubt there will be any permanent repercussions."

Naruto, now staring a at the ceiling asked a question that was weighing heavily on his mind,

"Is Sakura safe?"

Sarutobi smiled at the boy,

"Yes Naruto she is perfectly well. She is staying in a minimum-security cell several floors above you at the moment. She will be glad to know that you're awake. Had it not been for her adamant support on your behalf, things would not be looking half as good as they do right now."

Suddenly a small gust of wind and a flurry of leaves appeared in front of the two outside the gate. An unnamed chuunin appeared kneeling in front of the Hokage

"Hokage-sama the council requests your attendance at the meeting as soon as possible. Bear-san you are requested to attend as well, so that they may hear what you have said on behalf of the suspect."

With that the man disappeared in a fashion similar to how he appeared.

Sarutobi looked over to the Bear masked Anbu,

"Well it seems that the council does not want us to be talking to Naruto."

The Bear masked man nodded his head and turned back to Naruto.

"You know Naruto, they said that you are not allowed to have any sort of books, weapons, tools, scrolls, games, cards, wire, parchment, ink, brush, anything sharp, or anything that may present a danger to the guards. However they never mentioned anything about musical instruments that are made primarily of wood."

Smiling, Naruto sat back up as Bear handed him his violin and bow and began to walk away.

As they left the floor they could hear a sharp flowing song that was new to them.

Turning around, the Hokage yelled back to Naruto,

"Naruto what's the name of this piece?"

Yelling back, Naruto responded

"It's called the 'Meadows of Heaven'"

As the two left the hall, another man came down from the shadows and approached the cell. Naruto, sensing someone else approaching stopped playing and called out.

"Who's there?"

A man dressed entirely in black approached,

"I'm here to ask you a few questions about what happened the past week, Uzumaki, it would be in your best interest to be completely compliant."

Naruto set down his violin.

"And what happens if what I say, you don't want to hear?"

The man just smiled underneath his hood as he quickly made some hand signs and a bolt of electricity jumped from his hands to Naruto and began to electrocute him.

"Then you will be punished accordingly, and conveniently enough, you heal so quickly that I can do almost anything to you, and no one would be the wiser."

After the shock stopped, Naruto looked up to the man who as interrogating him.

"I thought these seals stopped the use of chakra inside this area."

The man just looked at him,

"Close, but not quite. It stops the use of chakra from within the cell, which allows us from the outside to interrogate prisoners without having to get close to them.

Naruto just grimaced; he knew he was going to be in for a long couple of days.

--

Inside the tower the Hokage and his Anbu escort had just arrived at the council's meeting chamber. Taking his seat at the head of the table, the old man looked over the gathered group of people.

"So, what was so important that you required my immediate attention?"

His old teammate Koharu stood up, the old women turned to face her old teammate.

"We wish to know your stance on the current situation"

The old man sighed,

"That's not the reason and you know it Koharu. You all called me here so that I would not be able to talk to Naruto, and so that you could most likely send one of Danzo's old interrogators down there to get information that doesn't exist."

At this the old warmonger Danzo stood up,

"What do you mean does not exist? We have proof that he helped Himura escape the trap set for him, and killed an officer in the fight. He was sighted leaving the village, without yours or the council's approval."

Standing up the old Hokage faced his 'council'.

"It is not your place to discuss the fate the young ninja. He is being tried in a court marshal where he will be tried by a group of his peers. After the trial they will state their finding and **I** will assign a fitting punishment. If this is all that you have called me here for this day then I believe that this meeting in adjourned"

A pink haired woman in the back stood up and started screaming,

"What do you mean it's not our place? He kidnapped my daughter and she almost died! Now he's brainwashed my poor girl into defending that… that Demon Spawn!"

The old Hokage slammed his hand into the oaken table they were seated around, leaving a distinct imprint of his hand in the solid wood.

"You will respect my laws and my authority in this room Haruno. If you break that law in my presence one more time, you will be trading places with Naruto in the cell that he now inhabits!"

Turning to address the wider majority of the council.

"This meeting is adjourned. Inoichi-san you live near the chuunin named Umino Iruka do you not?" Upon receiving a nod of confirmation he continued "please send the chuunin to my office as soon as possible. I have need of his assistance. Bear-san, you will accompany me as well."

With a quick turn on his heel, the old Hokage left the room and made his way to his office. Upon arrival he quickly pulled out his pipe and packed it with his favorite tobacco. It was going to be a long night; he was going to need this nicotine.

--

Naruto's day had gone from bad to worse. The man interrogating him was unrelenting, but he knew if he broke and confessed to something that he didn't do, they would only kill him for treason. So he grit his teeth and bore the pain.

Finally after several hours the man finally overdid it and rendered Naruto unconscious. Highly disappointed in his lack of information the man turned and left Naruto lying on the cold hard tiles lining the room.

--

Naruto awoke laying in several inches of water. Looking around he instantly recognized where he was again. Standing up and turning around he found himself face to face with a familiar ebony door. Sighing he reached forward and opened the door and stepped into the darkness.

Just like last time, the door disappeared and he remained in complete blackness. Although he didn't seem to drift as long as he had on his previous excursion into the void. This time the darkness was breached by the light quickly. Feeling the light wash over him, he stayed observant, he wanted to see what was happening this time.

As the light began to fade, he found himself seeing flashes of images, a cloaked man playing a violin. The flash of a strangely familiar blade, strings of white energy flying about cleaving things into pieces, and finally a single red flower in bloom.

That single flower was the most beautiful thing he had ever set eyes on. He was content to sit and stare at it for all eternity. He could see the world changing around him. Night into day, summer into fall, fall into winter, to spring back to summer, through storms and sunny days. The flower remained unchanging, standing steadfast as it brought a small piece of beauty to the desolate land around it. The land had slowly been fading into ruin, cities fell, and then darkness fell.

Suddenly Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder; he spun around quickly summoning his scythe to his hand, which was promptly knocked away. The person seized his shoulders forcing him to turn around fully and look at him. He saw a long black cloak and then…

Naruto woke up in a cold sweat on the floor of his cell. These visions were getting more and more frequent. He had one just the other night when he and Sakura were camping, but he always woke up right before he saw whom the man who stood behind him. The flashes of vision were infuriating as well. He knew those scenes, they were flashes of his own life, but they seemed out of place. In one of them there were massive buildings, as tall as mountains behind him, and he knew that he had never seen anything like that. Sitting up he heard a somewhat familiar voice behind him.

"You don't recognize the location because they're not your memories"

Whirling around, the first thing he recognized was a pair of cloudy eyes, set on the face on an old Taoist monk sitting upon his bed. Looking back at the barred entrance to his cell he found the door still closed and locked.

Slowly turning back to the monk he addressed him quietly,

"How on earth did you get in here? I know they have several levels of security to get pass and there is a guard not too far down the corridor."

The man just smiled,

"I have a few tricks of my own you know, and don't whisper I'm old and I don't hear so well anymore."

Naruto frowned,

"If we talk to loudly the guard will hear us, and I'm in enough trouble the way it is."

The man looked out towards the barred entrance,

"Do not worry about such trivial matters, I assure you that the guard is completely unaware of my intrusion"

Sighing Naruto just glared at the old man,

"So who are you? And why are you here this time?"

The old man returned his attention to the blonde,

"Me? I'm just an old Taoist monk who has long forgotten his name. But I'm here to help you Naruto. I know things about you, why you see things in your dreams, why you know things that you've never learned, and why you are able to play that beautiful violin with such grace."

Naruto stared intently at the old man,

"So are you going to share your knowledge with me then?"

The man just chuckled,

"No, not today at least. Do you know what today's date is Naruto?

Naruto just shook his head,

"Today is September fifteenth, which means we have just under a month until your thirteenth birthday am I correct?"

Naruto just nodded his head silently,

"Good well then on that day you will learn much of what has been occurring as of recently" The monk suddenly turned his head towards the door.

"I believe you have some visitors coming your way Naruto, so I suppose this is goodbye for now"

Naruto looked from the gate back to his bed to see that the monk was already gone, as if he was never there. Even the bed didn't show a wrinkle on it from where he was sitting.

Standing up and facing the door Naruto saw the Sandaime approaching with the Bear masked Anbu behind him.

"Well come on Naruto-kun, its time for your trial"

--

Naruto followed them up several floors until the entered a large amphitheater, with solid wood chair at the middle. Naruto looked to his Oji-san

"I assume that the seat in the middle there is my seat of honor then?"

The Hokage nodded and responded,

"Yes it is, just sit down there and answer any and all questions that they ask you. Do not under any circumstances lie. I felt it may help your case so I enlisted the help of Ibiki to run different analysis on you as we go to tell us if your lying or not."

Naruto just nodded and smiled at the old man,

"Don't worry, its not like I have anything to lie about in the first place right"

Walking down and taking his seat on the chair, Naruto noticed the floor around the chair was tiled with the same tile in his cell that would prevent him from using chakra.

Looking at the crowd surrounding him, Naruto could not help but to feel a little bit nervous. He knew he was innocent but there was a large turn out of people who seemed determined to see him found guilty.

An old man who seemed to be in charge stood up,

"We will now begin the hearing of genin Uzumaki Naruto. He is being charged for treason and kidnapping. Naruto how do you plead?"

Naruto just looked at the man,

"Well duh, I plead not guilty"

The old man then answered,

"Very well, the prosecution will then present their case to the court."

A middle-aged man approached the seat where Naruto was located,

"Naruto did you leave the village willingly on September the tenth with one Haruno Sakura and man under the name of Himura?"

Naruto just answered,

"Yes, we were assigned a mission to take Himura to" But he was cut off by the man

"Yes convenient, you were assigned a mission that does not exist in any record books. Both the council and the Hokage have agreed that they never assigned any mission to protect Himura."

Naruto looked a little peeved at being cut off by this lawyer,

"Who was the one who gave you this 'mission' Naruto?"

Naruto looked at the man,

"My sensei Hatake Kakashi assigned Sakura and I to this mission."

"And yet Kakashi claims that both you and Sakura were already gone by the time he reached the mission assignment room that afternoon. So who assigned you the mission?"

Naruto looked at the man and answered,

"Look Kakashi-sensei approached Sakura and I assigned us this mission and left with Uchiha Sasuke."

The man just smiled a little evilly,

"And there's another problem, why would Kakashi assign a mission to just you and Sakura when Konoha stands by its rule of a four man unit for genins?"

Naruto just looked confused,

"He said he planned to have our unit function as two pairs instead of one group of four, which he believed would make us into a more effective force."

The man turned to face the jury,

"So Naruto your telling us that Kakashi not only broke up your four man unit, but he also sent you out on a mission correct?"

Naruto just answered a little suspiciously,

"Yes that's generally what happened?"

The man was now openly grinning,

"So did he also command you to kill one of the officers who set up the trap to catch the opium runner operating under the alias of Himura?"

Naruto was stunned,

"Wait what did you say?"

The lawyer spun around walking towards Naruto,

"The man known as Himura was actually a man who recently had a warrant put out for his arrest in Tanzaku town. He was a known opium runner who was trying to bring more opium into the city. Tanzaku had its own police force set up a trap for him along the road. But to quote their lead officer,

'We had the group in our sights when suddenly a thick heavy fog swept into the valley where the team and I were hiding, Suddenly a man dressed in a large black cloak wielding a large scythe appeared in the middle of us. Moving faster that we could follow he began to attack the men. He seemed to refrain from using lethal force, preferring to try and scare the men. One of my best men managed to get into the cart and was aiming his heavy baton to strike Himura when the cloaked man suddenly threw his scythe at him and impaled him in the chest. My officer was pinned against a tree and quickly bled out. Sensing our inevitable defeat we withdrew the men and fled for Tanzaku.'

Naruto was stunned to say the least,

"You mean those weren't bandits?"

The man scoffed,

"Do you honestly think that Konoha would allow bandits to walk about freely that close to our village? Of course they weren't bandits."

Naruto just sunk down into his chair in shock,

"So I killed a man who wasn't even the enemy?"

The lawyer just smirked,

"So you admit to killing the man?"

Naruto just nodded his head,

"Yes, but he was about to attack Sakura, and I thought he was a bandit, so I reacted and neutralized the situation in the most effective manner that I could think of"

He turned to address the judge who was presiding over the court.

"That is all we have at this moment. The suspect is your now defense."

Sitting back down the man smile smugly while the defense attorney stepped into the light. Naruto was shocked by who was representing him,

"Iruka-sensei? You're defending me?"

Iruka didn't answer but smiled and nodded at the blonde.

"Naruto, first off we would like to clear any discrepancies on the mission that was assigned to you. First off you said it was your Sensei that assigned you this mission correct? Could it of possibly been an imposter?"

Naruto thought carefully,

"Well in all honesty genjutsu really isn't my forte, so if it was a relatively subtle thing then it's possible that someone was impersonating Kakashi-sensei. And come to think of it, I haven't known Kakashi-sensei long enough to recognize any minute differences in how he acts so it is quite possible that I would of never noticed."

Iruka just nodded,

"And when you met with Himura did anything seem off about him?"

Thinking again Naruto responded as honestly as he could,

"Not really no, he seemed worried about the bandits a little bit, and talked a little more than I really cared for, which could be taken as a sign of nervousness, but I believed that was just from the threat of bandits."

Iruka just nodded a second time,

"Did Himura ever name what he was carrying in his cart or did you ever see his wares?"

Naruto thought for a second before answering,

"Well both the mission scroll and Himura claimed to be carrying a cart of fine pottery. The contents themselves were packed into wooden crates. I assumed it was just to keep the pottery safe from damage during travel so I never questioned the contents. And on the first night he actually came forward with several bowls that he claimed were part of his delivery, that we used to eat from, but I suppose that just because he had a couple of bowls doesn't mean that he could not of had anything else in the cart."

Iruka just nodded again,

"And finally did the girl Sakura come with you, or did you force her to go?"

Naruto looked a little shocked at this question,

"She came with me by her own free will. We both thought this was an assigned mission."

"Good" Turning to the judge Iruka asked a new question, "Your honor, may I ask that Haruno Sakura come forward to answer some questions?"

The judge gruffly replied, "You may"

Sakura came walking forward and stood beside Naruto in the center of the room,

"Sakura, do you agree with everything that Naruto has claimed thus far?"

Sakura responded, "Yes I do"

Iruka just smiled, "Good, now when the officers made to apprehend Himura, were you able to differentiate whether they were bandits or officers?"

Sakura quickly responded,

"No, they had no symbols or anything on them that would make me believe that they were anything but bandits."

Iruka just nodded,

"And the person that Naruto killed, was he posing any threat to you or Himura that would warrant his death?"

Sakura, without a seconds delay responded,

"He got behind us somehow and was about to club me with a large spiked club when Naruto reacted. Anything short of something of the magnitude that Naruto used may not of saved me. I owe him my life today."

Iruka smiled at Naruto before continuing,

"And when the Anbu were sent to apprehend you, how did you respond to that?"

Sakura looked at the man a little funnily,

"They didn't try to apprehend us, they were aiming to kill us. We were running through the forest back towards Konoha when Naruto thought he heard something. Signaling to stop we landed on a branch, only to see several dozen kunai flying at us. Naruto pushed me out of the way, taking a kunai to the leg in the process. After we landed on the ground he quickly removed some weights from his body and called up a huge expanse of mist to help cover us, but the Anbu were still finding us, so eventually he used a mass shadow clone technique and we covered each one of them with some of our scent so they wouldn't recognize the real ones from the fakes, and we ran for Konoha. We were just outside the gates when some Anbu stationed their apprehended us. After ensuring my safety Naruto turned himself over."

Iruka just nodded,

"So your saying that the Anbu sent after you never called out a warning first?"

Sakura just shook her head and responded "No"

"Ok, prosecution the witness is yours" and Iruka took his seat at the edge of the circle.

The prosecutor just stood up and announced that he had no further questions.

Then the judge stood up and began talking,

"The jury will now go and decide their verdict. The court will have a twenty-four hour recess and will reconvene at fourteen-hundred hours tomorrow to hear the verdict."

--

And that was why the blonde was currently sitting in a cell beneath the Hokage's tower waiting for the scheduled meeting later that afternoon.

The Hokage had stopped by earlier to tell him that the case against him was ridiculously thin. Naruto had a lot of evidence and an eyewitness who saw everything for the entire duration that was in question. And to top it off, it seemed that since Naruto had put his life on the line several times to defend his teammate, that several on the jury appeared to be more willing to see things rationally instead of just condemning him.

But in all honesty Naruto really didn't care about any of that, his thoughts were on one thing

'Sakura actually stood up for me, even though her mother probably wants me dead, she stood up for me.'

With that thought Naruto smiled and rolled over in an attempt to get a little more sleep.

--

Too soon for his tastes he was sitting in a familiar amphitheater facing the judge.

"Jury what is your verdict?"

One of the jury members on the far side of the line stood and began talking,

"We find Uzumaki Naruto, not guilty of purposefully abandoning the village."

The judge just nodded, while suddenly a lot of people in the audience began yelling obscenities at the blonde. The judge was hammering his gavel in a failing attempt to regain order. Finally the Hokage just stood up and yelled,

"Silence, the jury has spoken and by our laws you must respect their decision, now jurymen I believe you had something to add?"

The man nodded,

"We would recommend however that Naruto be place on a two week supervised probation period."

The judge nodded,

"Ok agreed, Naruto you are acquitted of the charges, but you will be placed on probation from missions above low D-rank for two weeks, as will your teammate Sakura. You will be under the supervision of an Anbu member that will be assigned at a later time"

Standing up the judge announce,

"This court is adjourned" and walked out. The members of the audience slowly began to leave until it was only, Naruto, Sakura, Iruka and the Hokage standing in the room.

The old man just smiled,

"Now then, why don't we all go to my office to finish the arrangements?"

--

Naruto stood in the office a little shocked,

"Umm… Oji-san not meaning to imply anything, but that went a lot better than I had hoped for."

The old man just smiled at him,

"Naruto, one does not get to my position by power alone. Whether I wanted to or not I long ago had to learn how to play the game of politics"

Sakura looked utterly confused,

"Umm… Naruto what's going on?"

Naruto looked over to her,

"Oji-san over there apparently pulled some strings for us."

Sakura just looked at the old man,

"Umm… Naruto what strings did he pull? I mean we knew we were going to get off the hook for the whole thing because of the circumstances."

Naruto just looked at her,

"Well yes there is that, but the whole probationary period with an Anbu escort is what's unusual. Especially since I believe I've met the Anbu you plan on assigning us."

The Hokage just nodded,

"Astute as ever Naruto. You are correct, I did not have to pull strings to get the jury to acquit you, I pulled some strings so that you could have Bear-san give you some well-deserved training. He requested before you left that I allow him to train you for a few weeks, while at the time I was unable to grant him that request, it seems as if this was our window of opportunity. Since it appears that you and Sakura will have to work together for a while, I felt that it would be prudent to let her join you as well."

At this the old man turned towards Sakura,

"Unfortunately this means for the next couple of weeks, you will have to live with Naruto and the Anbu. You will most likely be staying at Naruto's place for the duration of your probation. Kakashi has gained approval from the council to continue with Sasuke's training and missions while you two are on probation, which means that for two weeks you really will be a two person team."

The old Hokage looked over to Naruto and then back to Sakura,

"Well Sakura you should probably head home to pack for your training. You'll most likely want to bring you camping supplies and any supplies you would need, although anything that need electricity you may as well just leave at home."

Sakura looked a little confused at this,

"Why would I have to leave that?"

Naruto chuckled,

"I don't exactly have power at my place Sakura. My place is a little tricky to find the first time so why don't you meet me at Ichiraku ramen in two hours and we'll get a quick dinner before we head out ok?"

Sakura just nodded her head, it seemed as though this was a little much for the poor girl to take in all at once.

Sarutobi just chuckled,

"Well Naruto it seems like you and Sakura get along very well now."

Naruto just gave a bright smile,

"She's my first friend Oji-san"

The Hokage couldn't help but smile back,

"And I'm very happy for you Naruto, but now I think it's time for you to head home and get stuff set there before Sakura comes. The Anbu will meet you at Ichiraku's in two hours ok?"

Naruto just nodded and headed out upon his way, with a cheerful smile on his face.

The moment the door closed, the Bear masked Anbu suddenly appeared in one of the chairs in front of the Hokage.

"Well those two should be interesting to deal with for the next couple of weeks."

The old man just smiled,

"Yes they should. I expect you to help keep them up to par with Sasuke, you know that Kakashi has been favoring the boy."

Bear just nodded his head,

"I know, that's part of the reason I wanted to help Naruto in the first place Hokage-sama."

The Hokage smiled,

"Very good then, so what do plan on teaching them?"

--

Naruto was wandering towards back towards his forest when he bumped into someone he didn't expect to see so soon.

"Sakura? What are you doing here? We aren't supposed to meet up for another hour and a half."

Sakura looked over to Naruto, she had a backpack on and a duffle bag in her hands. Not making eye contact with the blonde she just handed him the bags,

"Naruto, can you please take these to your home for now, I'll meet up with later. I have to go talk to someone right now."

Naruto just nodded his head, and accepted the bags, although he felt a little silly carrying a bright pink duffle bag around.

"Sure thing Sakura, I'll see ya later at Ichiraku Ok?"

Sakura just nodded her head and began walking down the road. Naruto watched her for a little bit as she wandered a little aimlessly down the road, until she entered a flower shop near the end of the road.

--

Ino Yamanaka was sitting behind the counter of her parent's flower shop, mindlessly trimming some red roses that she had just picked in their greenhouses. She heard the bell on the shop door chime. Without looking up she repeated the greeting that he mother had taught her,

"Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower shop, how may I help you today?"

Looking up she saw a familiar head of pink hair standing at the door looking a little downcast.

"Forehead-girl? What are you doing here?"

Sakura kept her head to the ground,

"Not today Ino-Chan"

Immediately Ino knew that something was up, the only time she didn't refer to Ino as Ino-pig or some other derogatory term was when she needed to talk about something important that was not related to Sasuke-kun.

Ino's eyes softened,

"What's got you so down Sakura-Chan? Is someone making fun of you again?"

Sakura just shook her head, Ino waiver her friend over,

"Sakura why don't you head up to my room. I'll get my mom to watch the shop for a little while and I'll be up in a minute ok?"

Sakura just nodded her head and walked up the staircase in the back, up towards Ino's room.

Ino turned around and ran into one of their greenhouses,

"Hey Mom can you watch the shop for a little while? Something happened to Sakura, she looks like she's almost crying."

Ino's mother turned around,

"Its almost 5 anyways Ino, why don't you just close shop for tonight ok? And invite Sakura to stay for dinner if she's here."

Ino turned around yelling,

"Thanks Mom, you're the greatest!" and ran back into the shop.

After flipping the sign over on the door and locking it, she quickly made her way up to her room. Opening the door she saw something she hadn't seen in years, Haruno Sakura was hugging one of her pillows, with tears streaming down her face.

Ino ran over to her friend and gave her a hug,

"Sakura-Chan what's wrong?"

Between sobs, Sakura choked out,

"My Mom and I got into a huge fight… She told me that my Father would hate me right now because of what I did…"

Ino looked astonished; Sakura's mother was normally a very nice woman. For her to say something like that Sakura must have done something very bad.

"What on earth did you do that you Mom said something like that?"

Sakura was trying to steady her breathing,

"I wouldn't convict Naruto of a crime he didn't do."

Ino just looked confused,

"You mean that idiot who joined our class at the last minute and got put on a team with you and Sasuke-kun? I heard he became a missing-nin"

Sakura shook her head,

"No, we were tricked into taking a mission that wasn't registered."

Ino looked down at her,

"Wow, Naruto must be a real idiot to take a fake mission"

Sakura looked back at Ino. Ino could see she said something to make the girl mad,

"Don't call him an idiot! That so called idiot saved my life several times on this mission and at the end he turned in himself, knowing they might kill him just to keep me safe"

Ino was astonished to say the least.

"Wait he did what?"

So Sakura began the long story about what had happened to them. She told Ino everything, from how the mission was assigned, to the first night, to the 'bandit' attack, to the trip home and about being jumped by Anbu and finally about the trial.

Ino sat there listening to her friend intently, when Sakura had finally finished she looked at the poor girl.

"So he really evaded an Anbu team for a couple of hours while wounded?"

Sakura nodded her head and replied,

"Not only that but he kept me safe too. We were in way over our heads, if he hadn't thought fast, I would have been killed several times over."

Ino's eyes were still wide,

"Wow, he is a hell of a teammate, but I don't understand what Naruto did to make your Mother so mad at him."

Sakura looked down,

"I don't really know either, all I know is that she blames Naruto, both for my Dad's death and for her loosing her job a few years back."

Ino just nodded,

"So your Mom wanted you to use this time to get back at Naruto for her?"

Sakura's eyes started tearing up again,

"Yea, but I couldn't do it. He saved my life on that mission Ino. I owe him a lot right now, and all he wants is a friend. He trusted me, even though I didn't trust him. And when my Mom told me what to do… I just couldn't do it…"

Ino's eyes softened,

"Do you like Naruto?"

Sakura thought for a second,

"Yes, but not like Sasuke. He's just a really good friend. I don't think I could of gone through this with him without coming out either dead or his friend."

Ino gave the girl a hug,

"Well for what its worth Sakura-Chan I think you did the right thing. So what are you doing now? Do you want to spend the night here if you and your mom are fighting, my mom already invited you for dinner."

Sakura's head swung around and looked at the clock in Ino's room,

"Oh my God, I almost forgot, I've got to meet Naruto at 6 for a quick dinner and so he can show me where we'll be staying for a while"

Ino just laughed at her friend as she frantically picked up some of her stuff before running out of the room yelling over her shoulder,

"Thanks for everything Ino-Chan I owe you one!"

Turning around she heard her mother yell,

"Ino dinner's ready, why don't you wash up and come on downstairs"

Smiling, Ino made her way down the stairs. She kind of wanted to ask her parents about what went on, but she decided against it. Sakura trusted her, the least she could do was to keep her mouth shut for once.

--

Naruto was just starting into his second bowl of miso ramen when a pink haired girl ducked in under the curtains huffing and puffing.

"Sakura? Are you ok?"

Leaning against the counter for support for a moment Sakura panted out a reply,

"Yea I'm fine, I just ran here from Ino's place cause I was running late."

Naruto just smiled,

"Well sit down and relax then, dinner's on me tonight."

Accepting the stool next to Naruto she took a seat and ordered a small shrimp ramen."

Naruto was well into his third bowl before they started talking again,

"So are you ok Sakura? You seemed pretty out of it earlier."

Sakura just nodded her head,

"Yea I'm ok now. I talked to Ino for a while and got it figured out." Trying to change the subject Sakura continued talking, "So who is this Anbu that is supposed to be watching us for the next couple weeks?"

Naruto just pointed his thumb behind him and answered through a mouthful of noodles,

"Why don't you ask him yourself, he's standing right behind us?"

A voice behind them suddenly spoke,

"How did your recognize me Naruto? I don't have my mask or anything on that you should be able to distinguish me by"

Naruto turned around to look at him,

"Well besides that damn monk, you're the only other person that thinks its fun to sneak up behind me and wait for me to notice them."

The man standing behind him wore the standard jounin vest, with a black undershirt, black pants, and black sandals. In fact if not for the rather strange headgear that he wore he would be entirely unremarkable. He seemed to wear some sort of metal face guard that covered the area where a forehead protector would normally rest and it continued down the sides to frame his face. Honestly Naruto thought it looked goofy but who was he to talk? He walked around looking like some mini Goth kid.

"What monk? You've never mentioned a monk before Naruto."

Naruto just sighed,

"Don't worry about it, now come on sit down and have dinner with us… Umm what should I call you now? I can't keep on calling you Bear if you're not in your Anbu uniform."

The man sat down and got the Ayame's attention and ordered a bowl of beef ramen,

"You can call me Yamato, or Yamato-sensei for the next couple of weeks"

"Sensei? Why what are you going to be teaching us?"

The man just shrugged,

"I dunno, haven't gotten that far in the planning yet."

Sakura was startled by a loud banging noise that was resounding from beside her. Looking over to her side she saw her teammate banging his head against the table while grumbling,

"Why will no one ever just give me one honest answer…"

Sakura just laughed at Naruto's plight.

"Oh come on Naruto, its not like his training is going to be that bad."

Naruto just looked at her out of the corner of his eye,

"Oh, I suppose your right." Turning his head back to the newly named Yamato,

"Hey Yamato-sensei, Sakura wants to learn about training weights"

The man spun around happily,

"Really? You know besides myself and Maito Gai almost no one uses them."

Looking right at Naruto he continued,

"However I don't have any spare weights to show her so we'll have to just use yours to explain them to her. In fact we should be able to up your weights now Naruto"

Naruto's eyes just widened, this was not how he had intended for this to go. Throwing some money on the counter, Naruto attempted to make a quick get away when Yamato made a quick hand seal, only for Naruto to fall face first onto he ground.

Yamato smiled,

"See how quick you moved there Naruto? Just imagine how fast you'll be when you take those weights off."

Grumbling, Naruto dragged himself back to his stool, the wooden stool groaning under the weight of the blonde sitting on top of it.

Sakura found the whole thing rather amusing, it was painfully obvious that Naruto had tried to get her set up with a set of the weights, but that thought had backfired on him.

Yamato turned to the laughing kunoichi,

"I don't know what your laughing at Sakura-san, I've got a pair of weights waiting for you back at the house by Naruto's place"

Naruto's head spun around,

"Wait, what house?"

Yamato just chuckled,

"Oh you'll see"

--

Naruto stood gawking at the site of the forest. Where there was once a small clearing near the base of his tree, there was not a small two-story house made entirely of wood. Turning to face Yamato, Naruto pointed at the structure,

"Where the HELL did that house come from? I was here not an hour ago and there was most definitely no house there"

Yamato was openly laughing now,

"Well that's simple, I made it"

Naruto looked at the man incredulously,

"But how? When? With what… Seriously?" Naruto looked around frantically before sitting down looking a little dejected.

Sakura walked up to him,

"What's wrong Naruto?"

Naruto looked up at the two people standing over him, pointing at the field that Yamato had constructed his house,

"You destroyed the small field of the Hybrid Tea roses that I planted. They should have been blooming soon…"

Sakura looked over at her friend,

"You had field of roses? That's a little weird Naruto…"

Yamato looked at Sakura,

"Actually you'd be surprised at how many Shinobi take to growing flowers or gardens. Most shinobi spend so much time destroying life that they find it relaxing to do something that brings color and beauty into the world."

Naruto just scratched the back of his head sheepishly,

"Actually Yamato-sensei, I just like flowers…"

Yamato just quirked an eyebrow,

"Or maybe he is just weird, I'm not really one to judge."

Walking over to the house, Yamato called out over his shoulder,

"Well this is wear I'm staying, Sakura your going to live with Naruto for a while at least. It will be good practice for when you're on a mission."

Sakura turned to Naruto,

"Why would living at you house be good training for a mission."

Naruto returned to scratching his head in an attempt to make this seem a little less awkward,

"Well I kinda live in that tree that's behind me…"

Sakura as deadpanned,

"You live in a tree…?"

Naruto just nodded his head,

"Come on, I'll show you how to set up your hammock, your going to want to get it set up before it gets dark out."

In front of the house that Yamato had made, the man was kneeling down looking intently at the small grouping of well cared for plants sitting just in front of his house.

Frowning he brushed one of the plants,

"I should of looked more carefully before I built my house…" Looking up he saw a couple of plants with a deep pink bud forming on them. 'Well I'll be, Naruto was right they are about to bloom. He must be a hell of a gardener if he can get roses to bloom this late in the season.' Turning back towards where Naruto and Sakura were at he called out to them,

"Just get a fire built for tonight and get your stuff set up. We'll go over your training schedule and stuff for tonight, tomorrow we'll start actually training."

Hearing a chorused "Ok Sensei" coming from the tree, he went inside to begin getting everything set of the upcoming weeks.

With Naruto and Sakura, they were getting Sakura's hammock tent set up. All in all it turned out to be rather comical for the blonde. He had been sleeping in these hammock things for years; he forgot how funny it is to see someone use one for the first time.

Sakura tying it up with what looked like a long train of overhand knots finally succeeded in getting the tent to stay up. Jumping into the hammock she missed Naruto calling out,

"Sakura, that knot won't hold!"

Of course she realized she had made a mistake when she was free falling down to earth at a quickly increasing speed. Bracing herself for impact, she was surprised when she felt something wrap around her legs and stop her fall slowly. Looking up she was surprised to see a bright blue line extending from Naruto's hand and wrapping around her ankle.

"What? Did you think those strings are only good for cutting through things? They were originally made for grabbing, not cutting"

Hauling Sakura back up the branches, she finally let a sigh of relief go when her feet touched solid ground.

Looking over to Naruto she said,

"We really gotta stop doing this, you having to save me all the time is going to make me look bad"

Naruto just laughed and responded,

"Well think of it this way then, I'm banking on the fact that at some time in the future I'm going to need you to repay the favors."

Sakura just smiled,

"I suppose that I can accept that, now how do you tie up that blasted hammock I couldn't get it to stay tight for the life of me?"

--

Sun was beginning to set by the time that they had finally gotten the fire lit. Sitting on opposite sides of the fire, Sakura and Naruto were waiting for their new sensei to appear. Without warning, said sensei appeared sitting next to the fire with a marshmallow on a stick half roasted over the fire.

Pulling the marshmallow of the stick and throwing the stick into the fire he began talking through a full mouth,

"Now then" taking a moment to swallow the marshmallow, "Tomorrow morning we'll start with your training. From 7-11 we'll be working on chakra control and from 12-5 we'll working on your new taijutsu. Whenever you finish you chakra control exercises we'll begin some simple jutsu training."

Naruto just looked at him,

"Taijutsu training? But I do just fine when I'm fighting with my scythe.'

Yamato turned towards Naruto,

"Well yes you do well with your scythe. But what happens when you have an enemy that gets in close to you? Your scythe is a mid range weapon, it has a longer reach, but if someone gets to close to you, its relatively worthless"

Naruto just shrugged,

"So no one has ever gotten in that close"

Yamato just nodded,

"I suppose that no one has, yet. But someday you will face someone who is a lot faster than you, and then you'll be glad that I taught you how to fight, with these."

At that Yamato dropped a small black vest at Naruto's feet. Naruto picked up the vest and noticed that the vest was really just a holster for six daggers like knives that started at his sides and then moved diagonally up towards his rib cage.

"Daggers? But why do I need six of them?"

Yamato began talking again,

"There are six of them because they also double as balanced throwing knives. With those knives you'll be able to block better at a closer range and they offer a little more versatility than your scythe does."

Naruto just looked at knives still not fully convinced,

"Look at it like this Naruto, from what I've seen of your fighting style you primarily use stealth and scare tactics to eliminate your opponents. Now while your scythe works well for scaring people even you have to admit that up close and person, its not very effective. Using these knives combined with the speed training that you'll be getting, you'll be a very deadly opponent."

Naruto just nodded,

"I suppose that makes sense."

Sakura turned to Yamato,

"So Naruto gets knives, what will I be learning?"

Yamato smiled at the girl,

"Tell me Sakura, what do you know about archery?"

Sakura thought back to her academy days,

"Well archery is the use of a bow and arrow. Effective archers can eliminate targets from a hundred yards away."

Yamato just smiled,

"Very good, while Naruto may be an up close and person fighter, you will be training primarily in genjutsu and your bow skills. That way you can be a support member to your team, by picking off targets at a distance."

Sakura smiled, she was finally going to be useful.

Yamato just stood up and handed her a small quiver and a wooden recurve bow.

"That's a lighter pound bow that you can use until you get the hang of it." Turning around he began walking towards his house, "Well I'm heading to bed, and I expect you two to be going to bed soon too. I'll have breakfast ready at 6:30 tomorrow morning so you had better be ready."

As he disappeared around the corner of the building, Naruto took off his black cloak and began clipping his new vest into place. Drawing one of the knives he looked at it under the light of the fire. It was nothing to remarkable, the blades were a silvery color, they had a small U shaped hand guard and a twisted leather wrapped handle with a silver pommel at the end to offset the weight of the blade. Sliding it back into his holster he turned to Sakura who was similarly examining her new bow.

Standing up Naruto said,

"Well I suppose we should be off to bed. Sounds like Yamato has a long day ahead of us planned."

He began walking towards the tree when he heard Sakura call out behind him,

"Naruto, wait a second."

Naruto turned around to face Sakura; seeing he had stopped she started talking again,

"I know it's a little weird, but when I'm at home normally listen to music when I'm going so sleep. So I was wondering if you would maybe play that song again before we go to bed."

Naruto smiled,

"I'd be happy to Sakura, I like to play before I go to sleep anyways."

Reaching inside his cloak he pulled out a small metal tube, opening it up it revealed to be a small sealing scroll, biting his thumb a bit, he spread a little blood on the seal and released the violin and bow that were inside.

Sitting down on a branch in the tree, Naruto began playing the same song he had played while they were on the mission just a few days ago. Sakura crawled into her sleeping bag inside the hammock and let the sad tune slowly carry her off into a calm sleep.

--

The next few days turned out to be far more arduous that either teen had expected them to be. Granted they new that or once they were going to get some actual training, but this was a little extreme, but they could not deny the results.

Naruto's speed had been increasing exponentially. Granted it was mostly due that he healed so quickly that as soon as his muscle fiber broke down from working, within twenty minutes it was healed again. That made gaining the muscle go much faster, but it made it no less painful, because by the time he was done doing sprints and what not he had completed a workout routine that a normal person would not do over three days. His skills with his knives had gotten better as well. Not only could he throw them just as well as he could ever throw his old throwing knives, but he could use them to fight against weapons like swords, something that he always found difficult to do with his scythe.

But his greatest accomplishment by far would have to be getting the water walking exercise down. Sakura had completed it the first day, but it took Naruto almost four full days to get it down well enough to use outside of just training. Their sensei had planned to start them off with the tree walking exercise, but Naruto had learned that in a scroll years ago, and Sakura could do it the first time she tried.

Sitting down and leaning up against the training post he had been using, Naruto turned to watch his teammate for a second. Yamato had wood clones running around the field fighting each other. Although only half of them looked like him, the rest of them were made to look like Naruto, Sasuke or Kakashi. The whole idea behind the exercise was that this way Sakura would get practice in eliminating moving targets, while having to fire around her teammates.

Naruto was at first amazed at how well she was doing. She was standing roughly 30 yards away in a tree shooting. Naruto thought she was getting good enough that he would easily trust her with his back. Although he quickly changed that thought as he saw one clone that was supposed to be him get shot in the left butt cheek by an arrow.

'Ok, maybe I'll wait a little while longer before I start practicing with her'

"Taking a break so soon Naruto?"

Turning around, Naruto wasn't surprised to see Yamato's head peeking out from around the post.

"Just a short breather before I start practicing my knife fighting with some clones."

The man behind him smiled,

"You sure you wouldn't have a short spar with your sensei?"

Naruto grimaced,

"Last time I did that sensei I was picking splinters out of my butt for a day, besides I learn more about knife fighting when I'm fighting my clones anyways."

Yamato just nodded his head,

"Fair enough I suppose" Turning towards Sakura he his clones all fell to the ground in piles of dried wood, he yelled out to her, "Hey Sakura, why don't you bring it in. I need to talk to you and Naruto for a minute"

Sakura jumped down from the tree and jogged over to where the two guys were. Taking a seat on the grass at the post next to Naruto, she pulled out her canteen and took a deep draught.

Seeing that they were both now ready to listen, Yamato began talking.

'Well it seems that the council somehow became aware of the fact that I have been training the two of you. As such they feel it necessary to call off the probationary period saying that the two of you need to return to active duty, which is a load of crock. But anyways we have about four more days until your probation ends. Which is why I called you over here. I was hoping to have another week or two to do some more training but since that obviously isn't going to be the case, I decided that I would give you your new jutsus now so that you can get some work done on them before we have to leave."

Naruto looked like he was about to wet himself in excitement. A new technique was worth gold to the boy. Sakura also seemed excited, but not quite to the extent of her partner.

Pulling out a small scroll he handed it to Naruto,

"Now inside that scroll Naruto is the Kanashibari no Jutsu. I picked it for you because it works similarly to those fear stimuli that you like to use. The difference is that this uses an opening created by the fear stimuli to create a genjutsu that will actually freeze an enemy in place, which would allow you to finish them much more easily. Normally it's only used by Anbu but I felt that it would complement your style nicely."

Naruto was beside himself. This new jutsu was awesome, granted it wasn't as flashy as some of the techniques that he had seen Sasuke and other ninja use, but by freezing an opponent he could easily finish them off.

Yamato turned towards Sakura,

"Now Sakura, I had planned on first giving you a genjutsu of some sort to confuse your enemies, but since you have Naruto to do that for you at the moment, I picked out something a little different for you."

Reaching into his pocket he withdrew another scroll and handed it to Sakura,

"Inside that is the Kunai Kage Bunshin no jutsu. Like the name suggests its normally used only for Kunai, but it can also be used for things like shuriken, or in your case, arrows. With this instead of launching a single arrow straight at an opponent, you can shoot a high arc into the sky and make hundreds of arrows rain down."

Sakura's eyes were wide, hundreds of arrows at once, with that the possibilities were amazing. Before she could get ahead of herself though Yamato began talking again.

"It will most likely be a while though before you can get a hundred arrows. Also you're going to need a stronger bow that has the ability to launch multiple arrows, which is why you are going to start using this bow."

Yamato handed her a very strange bow, it was similar to the bow that she had used for training in that it was a recurve bow, but this one was almost like two bows in one.

"That is what's called a double recurve bow. It will most likely be a while before you can use it effectively, because it has a one hundred eighty pound draw weight. But when you do get to using it in combat, its power will punch through most armor."

Smiling he stood back up,

"Well then I believe the two of you have some serious practice to get back to. We've only got a couple of days left you know."

--

That night Yamato went into town to drop off a report to the Hokage and pick up a few necessities in town, leaving Naruto and Sakura to themselves for an evening.

Sitting around a campfire, Naruto was playing his violin for Sakura as she made some stew for dinner. As she slowly brought the stew to a simmer, she added a little bit more wood to the fire. She laughed quietly as she threw a piece onto the fire.

Hearing the laughter Naruto stopped playing and turned to his teammate,

"What's so funny? Did I make a mistake?"

Sakura shook her head,

"No, your violin was as perfect as ever. I was laughing at the piece of wood that I had thrown onto the fire."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow,

"What's so funny about that?"

Sakura picked up another piece and showed it to Naruto,

"This is all wood that is left over from Yamato's wood clones. His chakra may add the color to the clone when it's moving around, but when it's dispelled it just looses its color."

Naruto was still confused,

"Yea so what about it"

Sakura just laughed,

"That's what's funny, they may not be colored but they still look like the person they were a clone of." Turning the piece of wood that she had picked up around, it proved to be a good bust of Kakashi's head.

Naruto started laughing too,

"I guess your right. Burning wooden chunks of your teammates is pretty entertaining"

As the laughter slowly died, Sakura began dishing up a couple bowls of the stew. She made it using some venison from a deer that she had shot the other day. Yamato insisted that hunting would be good practice for using her bow in the field. She wasn't thrilled about having to kill a defenseless animal, but she had finally relented. Although she flat out refused to field dress and butcher the animal, she made Naruto do that.

As Yamato had insisted, they lived completely off the land for the entire week. At first Sakura was a little hesitant of the idea, but Naruto assured her that he had been doing it for years and he turned out just fine. As it turned out Naruto was right, the meals might not of been as nice as the ones from home, but they ate just fine.

Thinking about how Naruto had lived for so long by himself, Sakura had to ask,

"Hey Naruto, why did you live by yourself for so long?"

Naruto looked up from his stew,

"Why do you want to know? No one's ever showed interest in that before."

Sakura looked over to her teammate,

"Well, I don't know, it just seems weird to me that the Hokage would allow you to just leave when you were so young."

Naruto thought for a second,

"Yea, now that you say it, it is kind of weird that the old man would just let me leave."

"So why did you go then?"

Naruto looked back at the fire,

"Hey Sakura, you know how you Mom doesn't like me right?"

Sakura, not sure where this was going just answered, "Yea, why?"

Naruto stayed looking at the fire,

"Your Mom isn't the only person like that. In fact it seems that the vast majority of this village dislikes me. When I was six years old, a particularly angry group found me and almost killed me. At that point, I almost snapped, I couldn't take it anymore. So I ran away. Well not technically since I had permission from the Hokage, but I ran away from my problems until I was strong enough to face them."

Sakura just stared wide-eyed at her teammate; she had not been expecting something like that.

Setting his bowl down on the ground, Naruto stood up and put his cloak back on.

Sakura hearing the noise turned to look at him,

"Where are you going?"

Naruto just grunted a reply,

"To train some more" and he disappeared into the trees.

--

Yamato had just arrived at the Hokage's office. Sitting down in a chair across from the old man the two began talking.

"So how are the two of them doing?" Asked the old man

Yamato smiled a little bit,

"I don't know why Kakashi dislikes those two so much. The work very well together and are a highly effective force. Naruto is a very good fighter while Sakura is getting pretty good with that bow of hers. Given a couple weeks of training the two of them could easily perform C rank missions by themselves with no problem."

The Hokage nodded his head,

"That's very good, because Kakashi has just requested that Team Seven be given the green light for taking a C rank. I agreed, but only on the stipulation that he has his entire team on the mission, not just Sasuke and him"

Yamato looked over to the Hokage,

"I noticed something weird with Naruto though"

The Hokage, began stuffing his pipe,

"Oh? And what did you notice about him"

Yamato watched the man light his pipe before responding,

"I gave him some knives to learn how to fight with. But after just a couple days, it looks like he's been doing it for years. He's learned so quickly on some things that it's astounding. Its like he knew it before I taught it to him."

The Hokage took a deep draft on his pipe,

"That is weird."

Yamato looked questioningly at the Hokage,

"You know something don't you?"

The old man chuckled,

"I know a lot of things Yamato, but yes I may have an answer to your observation"

Yamato stared at the Hokage, waiting for an answer,

"…And that answer would be?"

The Hokage took another deep draft of his pipe,

"I can't tell you Yamato, but I promise that if you live long enough, everything will make sense."

Yamato wasn't exactly pleased with that answer, but he knew he wasn't going to get anything more in depth out of him tonight.

"Fair enough. So when do they leave for this mission with Kakashi?"

The Hokage picked up a scroll on his desk.

"They're scheduled to leave three days from now, at 8am at the west gate."

Yamato stood up,

"Well then I better get going then. I only got a day and a half of training left with the two of them and I want them to get these new techniques started before they leave."

With a wave over his shoulder, he walked out the door.

Leaning back into his chair, the Hokage pulled out a small orange book and let a small grin form on his face as he opened it to the bookmark.

--

It had been almost a half hour since Naruto had left the campsite. The sun had completely dipped below the horizon, but a full moon was out lighting the ground almost as well as the sun had done during the day. Letting her mind wander, Sakura found herself worrying about her teammate. Looking towards the clearing that they normally practiced in, Sakura decided that she should just go check on him.

Ducking into the darkness of the forest, Sakura quickly made her way to the edge of the field. Carefully concealing herself amongst the foliage she looked out at the blonde who was fighting in the field.

She had to hold back a gasp from what she saw. Suddenly she heard movement from behind her, turning around she was met with an odd sight. There sitting on a branch just above her was an old Taoist monk, who was staring out at the field where Naruto was training.

"Amarius is most impressive, is he not?"

Keeping her eyes focused on the monk, she questioned,

"Who are you and where did you come from?"

The monk smiled and looked down at her,

"My, that seems to be a popular set of questions as of recently, but rest assured that I mean no harm to you or your friend out there. I am simply a keeper of myths and legends."

Sakura still didn't trust the man; he had easily maneuvered behind her without making noise.

"A keeper of myths and legends, so you're a story teller?"

The old monk chuckled,

"Oh my, not that at all. Although quite often enough the two are confused. Stories are a web of lies that any good author uses to tell a truth. Their entire piece is a lie, until the last moment, when an important truth comes to light. Now a legend, that is a piece of history that has been lost to time, until finally all that remains is a story. I keep the legends, not the stories."

Sakura was confused by the man's explanation,

"So the difference is that fundamentally a legend is true, while a story is basically a big lie?"

The man smiled,

"That's one way to put it I guess." The old man smiled and looked back towards Naruto.

Naruto was fighting in a field with countless other clones. He was running around seamlessly switching from wide swipes with his scythe to his daggers. Without missing a beat he would swing his scythe in front of him, causing a group of clones to have to move to dodge, when they were off balance, he scythe would disappear and he would sprint forward at a blinding speed, and cut the clones down with his daggers. His ability with his knives was astounding; especially considering it had only been a couple of days since he started using them.

"He was that good with his scythe when he learned how to use that too."

Sakura turned back towards the monk,

"You know a lot about Naruto don't you?"

The man shook his head,

"Not really, no. I know more about the legend that surrounds Amarius than anything else."

Sakura looked at Naruto,

"Why do you call him Amarius? His name is Naruto."

The man smiled,

"Amarius, Naruto, they are one in the same. They just don't know it yet."

Sakura, still watching Naruto, asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Sakura who are you talking to?"

Sakura spun around to find Yamato standing next to her, pointing a hand up to the branch that the monk sat upon,

"That old monk, up there."

Yamato looked where she was pointing,

"What monk Sakura?"

Looking up Sakura was surprised to see the branch completely empty.

Behind them, they suddenly heard a chorused cry of,

"Ninpo: Futatsu Kenbue no jutsu!"

Both heads spun around to see that the last ten Naruto clones had all used the two swords dance. The real Naruto was hard pressed to defend himself from all the string like cutting edges. He was ducking and twisting as fast as his legs would carry him. Finally seeing an opening he threw his scythe at one clone, which when it made contact, promptly destroyed the clone. With only nine left things began going a little smoother. Within a few minutes he had dispatched four more, using his daggers to get in close where the strings were harder to control. The last five tried to form a circle around the creator, but the creator quickly used his Kirigakure no jutsu to make a dense fog on the forest floor. After a minute the fog cleared, to show that the last Naruto clone had managed to get behind Naruto and held a knife to the creators neck.

Naruto, about to acknowledge his defeat, began lowering his head,

'Damn, I can't even take out my own clones' Suddenly he heard a loud thunk, behind him. Naruto, feeling the clones grip go slack, turned around to find that an arrow was lodged in the clone's head.

Looking towards the tree line, Naruto heard,

"Your on a team for a reason you idiot! Someone has to watch your back for you!"

Naruto, despite not being able to win by himself, smiled broadly and replied,

"I suppose this makes us even for when you fell out of the tree then?"

Sakura laughed and leapt down from her branch, joining her teammate on the ground,

"Not quite, you weren't in any actual danger there, just wanted to make a point"

Naruto nodded,

"So what was the point?"

Sakura, extending a hand helped her teammate off the ground where he was laying,

"You're never fighting alone anymore Naruto, you have a friend to watch your back"

Naruto smiled,

"That's good to know" accepting the hand, Sakura hauled her friend off the ground, "Now lets get going, Yamato is waiting back at the campsite"

As they started walking off, Naruto asked,

"Hey Sakura, if your watching my back, then who's watching yours?"

Sakura laughed,

"As long as you do your job well enough, there will never be anyone behind my back."

--

When they returned to the campsite they found Yamato, sitting in a wooden chair by the campfire.

"So what's up now Yamato?" asked Naruto.

"Well I was talking to the Hokage, it sounds like you two will be joining your team again in three days to take a C-rank mission. Which means that we only have a day and a half or so to start those new techniques for you two."

Naruto sighed,

"Tomorrow is going to suck isn't it?'

--

For the first time in nearly a month, Team Seven was reuniting to take their first actual mission as a team. Sakura was beside herself at her chance to see Sasuke-kun and to show the prodigy all that she had learned in the past couple of weeks.

Running over the rooftops towards the gates, Naruto and Sakura were fully enjoying the results of their training. In particular Sakura was amazed,

"This is AMAZING! We've been running fast for like twenty minutes now and I'm not tired yet"

Naruto just laughed at her,

"This is after just a week of training Sakura, imagine how strong we'll be in a couple of years"

Jumping down from the buildings the two came to an abrupt halt in front of the gates, where Sasuke was already waiting.

Sakura ran up to Sasuke,

"Sasuke-kun! Wait until you see how much better we've gotten."

Sasuke just looked up,

"Don't care, just go away and stay away"

Naruto frowned,

"Sasuke, I don't care if you are Kakashi's favorite, you don't have the right to go around saying stuff like that."

Sasuke looked over to the blonde,

"And you have no right to talk to me period you no name drop out so why don't you just shut it"

Naruto was about to retaliate when Sakura put a hand on his shoulder,

"Not worth it Naruto. Kakashi will just get mad at you."

Nodding his head, Naruto sat down in defeat. He didn't enjoy the fact that just because Kakashi picked favorites, meant he had to live by a different set of rules, but as it stood, there wasn't much he could do about it.

Several minutes later Kakashi walked up to the trio,

"Ok team, this is Tazuna-san. He's hired Team Seven to take him to his hometown in Wave Country. It should be an easy trip there, stay a week or two and return. Only the possibility of a few bandits along the way."

With that Kakashi, Sasuke and Tazuna started down the road.

Naruto turned to Sakura,

"I hate bandits…"

--

And that's it for this chapter. I'm finally getting into the Wave Arc. I honestly didn't expect it to take so long just to get to this part. In case you're wondering, the knives that Naruto uses are pretty much identical to the ones used in V for Vendetta. Other than that, not a whole lot to add about this particular chapter. The next chapter will most likely consist of at least the first half of the wave arc, it depends on the length, of the chapter. I don't normally like to go more than 10k-15k per chapter so its quite possible that it will get broken into to parts

As always I appreciate any reviews that you guys have.

Mechen Manachewagan


	5. Chapter 5 The Journey to Wave

Naruto sighed loudly.

"This mission is boring as hell…"

Kakashi just grunted out,

"Shut up and walk Naruto"

Staring back down at the road, Naruto adjusted his pack and continued walking down the road. Kakashi had gotten the brilliant idea that since Naruto has the highest stamina out of everyone in the group, then it would only be fair if he carried most of the weight. Which is why he got stuck carrying all of his own gear, and parts of everyone else's gear, making his load easily twice as heavy.

Sakura, attempting to lighten the mood a little, spoke up,

"See Naruto, I was right. You do make a good pack mule"

Naruto scowled at his friend,

"Ha ha, very funny Sakura."

Kakashi turned around and glared at the two,

"I don't know what you two believe the protocol on missions normally is, but TALKING is not something you're trained to do."

Naruto just returned the glare,

"We might of known how you run missions if you trained us ONCE Kakashi-SENSEI"

Tazuna, was beginning to get a little unnerved by the bickering and what he heard,

"Umm… Kakashi-san, from what you told me when we met the other day, you claimed that the genin you are training were highly trained, so what is the brat talking about?"

Naruto snorted,

" Trained my ass, Kakashi goes out of his way to make Sakura and my lives miserable…"

Kakashi spun around, just barely missing a puddle on the ground while doing so,

"Naruto, from this point onwards you WILL remain silent or you will be written up for insubordination. It doesn't matter how much favor you have with the Hokage, I will not tolerate an insubordinate genin."

Naruto turning his head to the ground thought,

'I won't let you beat me now Kakashi, I've worked too hard to be beat by some pompous council lap dog.'

Out of the corner of his eye Naruto caught sight of a small puddle that Kakashi had nearly stepped into. Sensing something a little strange about it he made a small signal to his teammate standing next to him.

Sakura, catching the motion made by Naruto, subtly turned her head while brushing her bangs away from her eyes, to hide her look. Seeing the puddle that Naruto had pointed out she understood his unease.

The two of them had been living outdoors for a little over a week already, and they had not seen a single cloud in the sky, let alone a large enough rain cloud that it would leave a puddle.

Both of them subtly prepared for a fight. Naruto, being largely hidden by his cloak, shifted his arms and drew a pair of his knives. Sakura, being a little more limited on her movement, just shifted so she could easily drop her pack, and shifted the quiver of arrows on her right hip.

Sure enough, within seconds of completely passing the puddle, two shadowy figures emerged from the water. Leaping into action the two ghouls threw a razor chain around Kakashi and pulled hard, tearing the man to pieces.

"One down" growled one of the two,

Naruto spinning on his heal, finally got a good eye on the two attackers. They were both dressed similarly, wearing a cloak of rags and black shinobi gear beneath them. Both always wore what appeared to gas masks and had a set of black horns protruding from their head protectors, which bore the symbol,

"Shit, hidden Mist nins, Sakura, take the client and find a hiding spot to support from, Sasuke and I will engage."

Sakura, nodding in agreement grabbed Tazuna and fled into the nearby forest. Finding a good spot behind a large fallen tree, she deposited her client and knocked an arrow in case she had a good opening.

With Sasuke and Naruto, things were not going so well. Naruto had tried to form a quick plan with his teammate, but Sasuke just ignored his attempts and ran head long into the fray. Seeing his teammate run into the fight, Naruto had no choice but to follow.

Jumping headlong into the already beginning fray, Naruto made a b-line towards the mist nin that Sasuke had left alone. As he approached, Naruto let two of his knives go flying and pinned the troublesome chain into the tree at two points.

Yanking hard on the chain the two fighters broke it at the base and continued on with their individual fights.

After getting rid of the chain, Naruto quickly summoned his scythe to his hands. Taking a large overhead swipe at the man in front of him, Naruto almost smiled when the man callously grabbed the scythe with his clawed hand.

Just like on so many other occasions, Naruto used the momentum of his attack to follow through with a crashing blow to the man's side. As always the man relinquished a hold on the scythe which allowed Naruto to yank it back, getting a nice cut into the mans shoulder.

Sasuke ducked around another fast swipe of the enemy's claws. While twisted around he noticed Naruto get a good slice into his opponent. Quickly formulating a plan, Sasuke leapt back and ran towards Naruto's opponent. Jumping past the blonde, Sasuke threw a kunai with an explosive note back towards the opponent he left behind.

Using the injured mans confusion to his advantage; Sasuke grabbed him and flung him towards the forests edge. He quickly pulled a coil of high tensile strength wire from his weapons pouch and secured the injured ninja against the tree. While doing so a loud explosion behind him resounded through the forest.

Turning around, he expected to see a defeated opponent lying dead, with his teammates astounded by his abilities. Seeing a crumpled figure lying on the ground, Sasuke called out,

"Hey Dobe! Where you hiding, I already killed my opponent and took out yours too."

Not hearing a response, Sasuke looked around. Suddenly from the brush behind him a horned figure leapt and began sprinting the short distance between the forest line and Sasuke.

Spinning around quickly, Sasuke was surprised to see his opponent unharmed and merely feet from him. Freezing in fear, Sasuke didn't even attempt to run away.

As the ninja ran towards him, something suddenly hit him in the back, sending him sprawling to the ground. Promptly after hitting the ground, Kakashi appeared and twisted the man's arm behind his head and placing a knee into his back. Protruding from the man's right shoulder was a long thin arrow.

Kakashi looked towards Sasuke,

"Sorry I didn't step in faster, I thought you had things handled."

Sakura running from the forest, with Tazuna on her heels, ran over to the crumpled figure lying in the middle of the road

"Naruto! Are you ok?"

Rolling the boy over, Sakura saw that Naruto's arms were covered in third degree burns. The skin was charred black. Quickly pulling out some clean dry cloth, she lightly wrapped the wounds to prevent air from getting to them and carrying dust and dirt that might cause an infection.

Looking him over, it appeared as if his heavy cloak had protected him from the brunt of the explosion.

"Naruto, can you hear me?"

Naruto's eyes opened slowly, coughing a little blood, Naruto responded,

"Yea, I hear you Sakura, just give me a moment."

Tazuna, standing behind Sakura, was absolutely speechless. This young boy looked like he was about to die as his teammate was doing her best to try to take care of him. Turning around to look for sensei, he was surprised to see him talking to the black haired boy about the fight.

"Hey Kakashi-san, you should get over here and take a look at Naruto. He may need some help, he got burned pretty badly!"

Kakashi just waved his hand dismissively at the client.

"Don't worry he heals quick. Its nothing to worry about."

Sasuke just laughed at the boy,

"How did that idiot get hurt anyways?"

Hearing this, Sakura's blood boiled. Standing up she confronted her other teammate and sensei about it.

"He got injured because you blindly rushed in and threw a high powered explosive note over your back. Naruto didn't know you had thrown anything so imagine his surprise when the ground right behind him suddenly blew up. You didn't even come close to hitting your opponent."

Sasuke instantly got pissed at the girl's remarks.

"And who are you to yell at me Sakura. The first sign of trouble, you grabbed Tazuna and ran away!"

Sakura, pointing towards where she had hidden,

"I ran over there with Tazuna and covered your ass while you were fighting. If I hadn't hit that guy there with an arrow you'd be dead Sasuke"

Kakashi, holding his hands up in a pacifying manner cut in,

"Now team, this isn't the time for this. Sakura since you seem so worried, you can carry Naruto. We can't carry his stuff so just leave it here and we can pick it up on the way back ok?"

Sakura turned towards Kakashi,

"Carry Naruto? Where on earth do you think he's going? He's burned badly, he needs medical attention."

Again Kakashi just waived her off,

"I said he'll be fine, he's been in much worse conditions before and he always lived just fine. Now come on lets get going, we're running behind."

To Sakura's disbelief, Kakashi and Sasuke actually began walking down the road. After a couple of moments Kakashi turned back around.

"Tazuna-san if you don't keep up, Sasuke and I won't be able to protect you. Who ever actually wants you dead is obviously going to send more ninja after you."

Tazuna walked over towards Naruto and Sakura, and place a hand gently on her shoulder,

"Is it safe to move him?"

He was a little startled to hear Naruto reply,

"I'll be ok after a while, but I'm going to be asleep for a while."

Sakura nodded her head,

"Ok, if you're sure Naruto"

Tazuna shouldered the boy's pack.

"I can carry his gear if you can manage him"

Sakura slowly picked up Naruto and got him situated on her back.

"Sakura, drop my weights, it will be easier for you"

Sakura had completely forgot that both of them still had their weights on. Quickly undoing the quick releases, almost two hundred pounds of weights, between the two of them dropped to the ground.

Feeling much lighter now, Sakura and Tazuna took off down the road, trying to catch up.

Over her shoulder, Sakura heard Naruto mutter,

"Thanks Sakura-Chan. I owe you one"

Despite the situation, Sakura smiled,

"You don't owe me anything Naruto-kun."

--

Several miles down the road, Sakura felt Naruto shift on her back.

"Hey Sakura, you can let me down now, I should be able to walk now"

Sakura turned her head to the side to get a look at the blonde,

"You sure? You got pretty banged up back there"

Naruto nodded and started sliding his legs down,

"Yea, Kakashi was right, I heal fast, I'm good enough to carry myself from here on."

Sakura bent down a little bit so he could reach the ground. Sliding the blonde onto his own feet, she turned around to check and see how he was doing.

Naruto stood a little wobbly for a moment until the blood returned to his legs and feet. Slowly reaching up he began to unwrap the extensive amount of gauze that Sakura had wrapped his arms with earlier.

"Naruto, you should leave those bandages on, otherwise dirt will get into the burns and cause and infection."

Smiling, Naruto continued unwrapping, once he had a good portion off he held up his arm.

"No need see. Skins already started healing"

Sure enough the bare part of his forearm was covered in a bright pink new skin,

"Don't worry Sakura, by the time we get to Tazuna's place you'll barely be able to tell that I was ever burned in the first place."

Sakura just shook her head,

"No matter how many times I see you heal, I still never believe it. I bet you could lose an entire lung and shrug it off"

Naruto laughed a little,

"Possibly, but lets not test that, just cause I heal fast doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."

Grabbing his water bottle, Naruto downed a couple gulps before turning to their client.

"I'm sorry Tazuna-san, but if you could carry my pack for a bit longer I would really appreciate it. I'm still a little sore from that explosion."

Tazuna just stared wide-eyed at the boy, thinking to himself,

'Not more than three hours ago I saw that boy get blown up by a big explosion, he was laying broken on the ground with third degree burns covering his arms. And now he's standing here like he just got a bad sunburn'

"Yeah, no worries, I can carry the pack a bit longer"

Naruto smiled

"Thanks old man, now lets start walking again before those two leave us behind again"

As they began walking down the road, Tazuna began to strike up a conversation with the blonde.

"Why does your Sensei favor that other brat so much?"

Naruto turned to Tazuna,

"He's doing what he feels is right. He honestly believes that I am an abomination and that Sakura back there is worthless."

Tazuna frowned,

"Maybe so, but that doesn't make it right…"

Naruto frowned,

"Who's to say what is right or wrong in this world. Our history tells us that the good guys always win, but history is flawed in that manner. For instance in the second Shinobi war, we hailed the Yondaime Hokage as a great hero, while Iwa considered him the most evil man alive. But really the Yondaime was no different from any other warrior on either side, just that he did better at his job. Everyone does what he or she feels to be the best course of action. And since history is written by the victors, the victors are hero's and their enemies always evil."

Tazuna turned to the blonde,

"But that's not always true, there are things that every man of any faith can embrace. Such as how you shouldn't kill or steal or rape"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders,

"Maybe so, but from what I've seen in this world is that humans will almost always choose themselves over anyone else. So saying you won't kill is all good and well until you are faced with a situation of kill or be killed, in which any man will choose to fight."

Tazuna was beginning to get a little frustrated with the boy,

"You know for being so young, you're awfully jaded"

Naruto just shrugged again,

"It's not that I don't believe what your saying. If I didn't I would of returned home after facing those two ninja back there. I believe that you may need help, and I will do what I can to help. But consequently, I can almost guarantee that somewhere out there, there is someone who has a view that is opposite to my own. And in their eyes, I am evil."

By this time they had caught up to Sasuke and Kakashi. Fallings silently in behind them, the stopped their conversation, until Tazuna piped up again.

"Not too far from here we'll come to a small bay that comes in. We'll meet a friend of mine there and take a boat to the island."

The group just nodded, and Kakashi piped in,

"Ok, that sounds good. If we're going to get attacked again, it's going to be soon. So we should remain quiet until I say further, ok?"

Seeing nods from all present, they began making their way towards the bay.

Soon enough the forest broke. In front of them they could see a small boat and a rower hiding in the weeds of some shallows not far from shore.

Tazuna pointed,

"There's Keichi, he'll be the one who will bring us to the island."

They walked slowly up to the boat and Tazuna called out quietly,

"Keichi-san, it's me Tazuna. Are you here?"

A hand stuck up from the boat.

"Yes, Yes. Now get aboard before we get spotted, we have twenty minutes before the next ship passes by so we have to be across by then"

As they loaded into the boat, Naruto took a seat in the front by Tazuna and Sakura. Keichi swiftly began paddling out into the sea.

"Hey Keichi-san, if your boat has a small motor on the back, why are you paddling?"

Without looking away from the water, Keichi responded.

"Because Gato has a small armada of ships that circle the land of waves to keep ships from reaching the port. If any one of those ships hears the whine of that motor, they won't hesitate to attack us"

Naruto nodded and leaned against the edge of the boat. He seriously needed a rest, recovering from that burn while on the road was not as easy as he made it look.

"Sakura, do you have anything to eat by chance?"

Sakura opened a small pouch on her side and withdrew a granola bar and handed it to Naruto.

"Here, you can have this, it's not much but it's all I have on me."

Naruto thanked her and graciously accepted the granola bar. He ate it in just two bites and took a big drink of water.

"Hey Sakura, I'm going to take a nap can you wake me up before we get to shore?"

Sakura nodded,

"Sure thing Naruto. Take some rest, God knows that you could use it right about now"

Far to quickly for Naruto's tastes, Sakura was shaking his shoulder,

"Naruto, get up we're almost to shore"

Naruto grumbled a little but opened his eyes, he was still tired, but at least now if there was a fight he'd be able to help.

As the boat was getting closer to shore, Naruto saw the massive bridge that was nearing completion.

"Holy crap Tazuna, you weren't kidding, that bridge is huge."

Tazuna nodded,

"Yea with it hopefully when it's completed it will be able to help free my country"

Naruto looked over to him,

"When we get some time later, I'd like to hear about what's been going on in Wave"

Tazuna agreed,

"It might be good for you to know what's going on here, but for right now we should just focus on getting back."

They slowly got out of the boat and thanked Keichi for the safe passage. Turning towards inland the group began walking in the direction that Tazuna had directed them.

As they slowly crept away from the bay, Naruto made note of something,

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei" whispered Naruto,

Kakashi, whispering in part, "Naruto, I told you no talking earlier. Now is not the time to start a conversation"

Naruto shook his head "No its not that, this fo.."

But Kakashi cut him off,

"Not now Naruto, tell me later if you really have to"

Grumbling about his sensei, Naruto turned towards Sakura and whispered,

"You'll listen won't you?"

Sakura nodded her head in agreement,

"Good, I think this fog is from a Kirigakure no jutsu, it looks exactly like the stuff I make when I use it. Which means that we most likely have another ninja watching us."

Nodding her head to let Naruto know she heard him, the both slowly took positions on either side of Tazuna, to make sure that if something happened to him that they could try to protect him.

Sure enough, not far down the road, Naruto spotted something hiding in the bush.

Walking past it slightly, Naruto spun around and threw a single throwing knife at the hidden object.

Sasuke apparently saw something as well, because just a moment after the knife left Naruto's hand, he heard,

"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Naruto turned back just in time to see a massive fireball go flying by him, singeing his hair as it passed by.

"Sasuke, stop throwing around huge fireballs and stuff right next to your teammates!"

Sasuke scoffed,

"Not like it matters if I hurt you anyways. Like Kakashi said, you heal so quick that it doesn't matter"

Naruto grumbled,

"One of these days I'm going to get killed because people think I can survive anything."

Turning back towards the bush where they had seen something, Naruto found the smoldering remains of a small rabbit and a black throwing knife."

"Damn, whoever it was got away" he bent down and picked up his knife, cleaning the ash off of it.

Sakura turned to Naruto,

"You sure that you saw someone in there"

Sasuke cut in,

"Normally I'd say the dobe was just being an idiot showoff, but there was most definitely someone there moments before we attacked."

Suddenly they heard Kakashi yell

"Hit the ground!"

Sasuke and Kakashi hit the dirt immediately while Sakura and Naruto threw themselves towards Tazuna, and drug him down out of harms weigh.

As they hit the ground, Naruto felt something large fly by, where they had been standing just moments before.

Jumping back up, Naruto gave Sakura and Tazuna a hand, dragging them to their feet.

Kakashi was already standing glaring at a tree, just up the road. Imbedded into the tree was an impossibly large sword. Standing on the tree, with his back to them was a man. He wore a blue pin striped pants. He had some sort of black leather crossing his back, working as a holster for his gargantuan blade. Turning around, his face proved to be completely covered in bandages with his forehead protector hanging at an odd angle on the side of this head. He didn't wear any shirt, instead wearing only a pair of arm coverings that were a black and white camouflage design.

Kakashi glared at the man for a moment before breaking the silence.

"Momochi Zabuza… The Demon Hidden in the Mist" Hearing this name Naruto raised an eyebrow, he had heard of this man. In fact Zabuza was the inspiration behind learning the hidden mist technique in the first place. "Of all the people I didn't expect a ex-swordsman of the hidden mist to be going after an old man."

The man now known as Zabuza turned around and shrugged his shoulders,

"It was supposed to be an easy gig with a high pay. Unfortunately you had to show up, Copy-cat nin Kakashi…"

Kakashi slid into a light and easy stance, and began giving orders.

"Guys stay back, Zabuza is well above even Sasuke's skill. Even combined you three stand no chance."

Naruto and Sakura looked a little peeved at that statement, but given the current circumstances decided to let it slide.

Kakashi reached up and slid his forehead protector off his left eye, placing it where a forehead protector normally rests, on his forehead.

"Ah, I am honored Kakashi, to see the sharingan so soon… Unfortunately for you, you have to be able to see me for that eye to take full effect…" Making a single hand sign he muttered "Kirigakure no jutsu" and a thick fog quickly rolled in the surrounding area.

Sakura and Naruto were utterly confused, how on earth could Kakashi have a sharingan eye, he wasn't an Uchiha. Sasuke however didn't look confused, he was downright pissed.

"Kakashi!! You're the man that my Father wrote about. The one who stole our bloodline for yourself!"

Kakashi turned to Sasuke,

"Not now Sasuke, I'll explain later."

Sasuke wasn't happy, but with the sudden influx of killer intent it was all he could do to not wet himself, let alone carry on an argument.

Sakura was shaking from head to foot and looked pale as death. Seeing her like this Naruto turned around a put a hand on her shoulder, making her jump.

Whispering to her, he said,

"Remember Sakura, I've been fighting in this stuff for years. I can hear where he is, so don't worry, I'll protect you."

Sakura's shaking died down. She quietly replied,

"Thanks Naruto."

Naruto just gave her a brief grin,

"No worries, that's what teammates are for"

Kakashi seeing Sasuke's fear also tried to ease the tension,

"Don't worry Sasuke, I'll protect you with my life"

Naruto frowned, thinking to himself,

'And what the hell are we? Chopped liver?'

Kakashi suddenly disappeared and ran into the fog where he saw a glimpse of Zabuza, leaving the team standing in a triangle around the client. In the fog they could hear clangs of metal against each other. After a minute of loud clangs they heard a loud splashing noise, followed by

"Shit it's a water clone!"

Suddenly right by Sakura, Naruto heard an almost non-existent patter of feet. Immediately summoning his scythe to his hand, Naruto swung around and brought his scythe up into a defensive block.

Sakura was frozen in fear. Out of nowhere, Zabuza had appeared and had his massive sword brought to bear over his shoulder, readying a massive downward swipe. When out of nowhere, Naruto sprang up in front of her and blocked the massive sword with his thin bladed scythe.

After impact, Naruto sunk to one knee, he had barely made it there in time. Turning his head slightly towards Sakura he spoke,

"See Sakura-chan, I've got your back"

Zabuza was furious. He was just about to take out a genin and possibly the old man in one swipe, when out of nowhere this blonde haired pipsqueak blocked the swipe with a scythe. Seeing Naruto drop to one knee under the pressure of his blade, Zabuza swung his foot out and kicked Naruto clear into thickest fog where He and Kakashi had been fighting earlier.

Sakura cringed when she saw Zabuza's foot make contact with Naruto's chest. She heard several very loud cracks, leading her to believe that Zabuza had broken a couple of Naruto's ribs.

Zabuza turned around,

"Now that the brat is out of the way…"

Kakashi suddenly appeared right behind Zabuza with a knife to his throat.

"Did you forget who you were fighting?"

Zabuza smirked,

"I don't really want to fight any of you, all I want to do is kill the old man and collect my money."

Kakashi slashed at his throat while replying,

"Yes, well unfortunately I cannot allow you to do such a thing."

As the knife pierced Zabuza's skin, the entire body fell to the ground in a large puddle of water. Now wary of an attack, Kakashi spun around, just to be cleaved in half by Zabuza's ridiculous blade.

Smirking in victory, Zabuza's smile fell when he saw Kakashi also turn to a puddle of water. Hearing someone behind him, Zabuza spun around swinging his sword, only to have it stopped by a pair of kunai in Kakashi's hands.

Zabuza smirked,

"You are impressive Kakashi. Not only do you manage to copy a technique of mine while in this mist, you managed to block my sword with a mere kunai."

Kakashi eye smiled,

"Yes, well, I do what I can"

Zabuza smile dropped and he aimed a kick square at Kakashi's chest. Kakashi brought an arm up to block the brunt of the blow, but he was still sent flying out into a nearby pond.

As Kakashi disappeared into the small lake, Zabuza's fog faded, and with it Zabuza disappeared as well.

Kakashi was swimming madly for the surface.

'Damn it, I have to get back before something happens to Sasuke or the client.'

Breaking the surface of the water, Kakashi looked around, and pulled himself to the surface. Suddenly from behind him he heard a loud cry of,

"Suiton Daibakufu no Jutsu"

Kakashi managed to get out an "Oh shit" before a huge column of spiraling water connected with his back sending him crashing into the surrounding forests. The amount of water sent towards Kakashi was ridiculous, the water level of the lake appeared to of dropped several feet, from just that one technique.

Zabuza was standing on the waters surface, just a few feet behind where Kakashi had surfaced. He was panting heavily.

'Damn that jutsu takes a lot of chakra' Intending to finish the fight Zabuza began walking towards Kakashi.

Kakashi laid on the ground in a mess. Luckily he some how managed to roll with the water over most of the land before getting caught in a bush. He was heavy beaten and bruised, but he didn't break any bones at least. That didn't mean that he was in good condition by any means. He was so beat he couldn't even stand up.

"Sasuke, take the client and Sakura and run. Zabuza's too tired to chase after you now!"

Sasuke, without blinking an eye spun around and tried to grab Sakura, only for her to yank her arm away from him.

"Sakura, we have to run now or else that demon is going to kill us too!" Sasuke was frantic, fear evident in his voice.

Sakura just shook her head,

"No, not yet, Naruto has something planned, we may still get out of here ok"

Sasuke turned to her,

"What are you talking about, you saw him just as well as I did. Even if he did survive that kick, there's no way he's conscious let alone moving."

Sakura just shook her head,

"No I saw him land over there, and he isn't there anymore. He's got something planned."

Sasuke shook his head,

"Fine stay here with the Dobe and die. I have better things to live for."

Sasuke turned and ran away, back into the direction that they came from.

As he faded into the still foggy surroundings, Sakura felt he heart drop. She believed in Naruto, but not having any teammates in plain view had left her rather disheartened.

Zabuza had turned around on the water and was slowly making his way back to shore. Seeing Sakura still standing in front of a shell shocked Tazuna, he laughed aloud.

"What is this? The teacher has fallen, the prodigy has run away and the lesser student is defeated, leaving a lowly young kunoichi to face me alone? Your team is broken little girl, all that is left is the demon that hides in the darkness and mists waiting to strike, now that all the light of your world is about to be extinguished. Who is going to save you now?"

Sakura had heard that when one is about to die, they experience a short flash of memories. Technically she believed that it was just fear that caused the misfiring of synapses in the brain, that would make one think back to moments that had long since become only a memory. Out of all the things that she could possibly remember in this, her dying moments, she did not expect to remember this.

"_But Naruto, once a month the moon fades from the sky, so then what happens"_

_Naruto looked at her,_

"_Then all you have are the stars. Nor the brightest of the celestial beings, but it lights the world, when all other lights go out. In that way the star is greater than the sun or the moon."_

Sakura smiled,

"You won't kill me today Zabuza, not all the light has left my world"

Zabuza was nonplussed,

"Oh? And who do you think will save you now?"

Sakura smiled,

"The one who said he will always protect me. The star that lights the way when all other lights have gone out."

Zabuza slowed down,

"So who would that be?"

From behind him he heard a bone chilling whisper,

"That would be me, asshole"

Hearing the voice, Zabuza swung around as fast as his sore body would allow for, bring his sword in a wide sweep with him, only for it to be blocked by a rather familiar silvery scythe blade.

"You should be dead, I know I drove ribs into your lungs with that kick"

Naruto smiled a little,

"Yes, and I assure you it hurt like hell. But unfortunately for you it takes far more that one good shot to kill me"

Zabuza smirked evilly,

"Good I always liked a challenge" Pushing his sword to the side, Zabuza knocked the unwieldy scythe from Naruto's hands.

Naruto smiled, and quickly drew two of his knives from his vest, discarding his cloak while he was at it. Turning he spoke,

"If something goes wrong, I want you to run. Run and never look back ok?"

Sakura nodded her head, and Naruto turned back towards Zabuza.

"Now then Zabuza-san, for the past five years or so I have trained tirelessly in your silent killing technique, and today I would like to see how my skill fairs against yours"

Raising his hands into a familiar symbol Naruto muttered "Kirigakure no jutsu". A thick fog enveloped the surrounding area. Sakura could not see even a foot in front of her.

Zabuza's voice echoed throughout the mist,

"Very good brat, the mist is thick, and you move almost silently, but not silently enough"

Spinning around, Zabuza hurled his large cleaver towards where Naruto was standing. The large blade created enough of an air current that it created a gap within the mist as it flew, allowing Zabuza to see as his blade, struck Naruto across his midsection.

Smiling at his imminent victory, Zabuza almost missed that the body of the blonde, erupted into a puff of smoke.

'Shit' thought Zabuza; 'He tricked me into getting rid of my weapon'

Suddenly Zabuza heard a multitude of voices begin speaking around him at once. At first he thought it was the same genjutsu that he used to throw his voice, but this one was different, it was as if there were a hundred voices speaking around him.

"You made three mistakes today Zabuza. First was that you took the job to kill Tazuna. Second was that you threatened my friend. And finally, you let yourself get tired out expecting Kakashi to be the only one who could possibly hurt you."

There was a brief pause, which was broken by a singular voice speaking out,

"You are a threat Zabuza, and you must be eliminated."

Realizing that if he didn't do something drastic quickly he would be killed, Zabuza created a quick water clone and replaced himself with it, just as one of Naruto's knives was jammed into the base of the clone's skull.

Taking off at a mad sprint, Zabuza ran into the direction that he had thrown his sword earlier. Finding it embedded into the ground, he grabbed it and ran towards the only targets he could easily find in this fog, straight towards Sakura and Tazuna.

Sakura heard footsteps quickly approaching, turning to the direction that she heard them from she saw Zabuza, with a crazed look emerge from the mist, with his sword held high above his head. From directly behind Zabuza she heard,

"Ninpo: Futatsu Kenbue no jutsu" A pair of glowing blue strings flew out of the mist and tightened around Zabuza's sword, while another string snapped like a whip, biting deep into Zabuza's back.

Zabuza's face showed the obvious onset of shock. That last cut had cost him dearly. As he fell to the ground he felt this sword being yanked out of his hands and flung away from him. Rising up onto his knees, Zabuza watched the fog slowly thin out as Naruto walked from the fog. Closing his eyes, Zabuza addressed Naruto.

"So this is how I die? So be it"

Naruto stared at the broken man in front of him; his eyes looked were icy silver as his scythe mysteriously materialized in his hand. Walking up to Zabuza, he raised his blade, ready to strike the demon down.

Before Naruto could react, a pair of needles had been thrown into the side of Zabuza's neck, killing the man.

A masked hunter-nin appeared next to Zabuza, checking his pulse. The hunter-nin turned around; the hunter-nin wore a blue yukata and appeared to be feminine, judging by her physical build and hair. The masked woman spoke to Naruto.

"Thank you for stalling him long enough for me to catch up to him, I've been tracking him for quite some time. I noticed he left his hideout earlier today, but due to unseen circumstances I was not able to follow him immediately.

Bending down the hunter-nin, hoisted Zabuza's dead body onto her shoulder.

"I'll send word to Konoha, that the blonde haired genin on Hatake's team should be paid the reward for killing Zabuza. The one on your team that ran away is unconscious over there in the bushes. I felt it would be better if he didn't leave the premises."

Naruto nodded his head, he didn't really know much about what a hunter-nin actually did, but it seemed to make sense to him.

The hunter-nin disappeared in a puff of smoke, having used a shunshin to leave quickly. Naruto turned towards Sakura and Tazuna.

"How far is it to your home Tazuna-san? God knows I could use some sleep right about now, and we need a place to take care of Kakashi and Sasuke since they're both unconscious."

Tazuna, still a little shocked, pointed a shaking hand down the road,

"My home is just a couple miles or so down that road, we should be there within an hour or so"

Naruto nodded and turned to Sakura,

"Sorry Sakura but I'm almost out of chakra, between healing earlier and this fight I don't have enough to make shadow clones to carry Kakashi and Sasuke"

Sakura looked in the direction that Sasuke had ran earlier,

"Well if you can handle Kakashi I should be able to carry Sasuke by myself. Tazuna, would you be willing to carry our packs for a while?"

Tazuna nodded,

"Sure, it's the least I could do after all of this"

Sakura wandered off into the woods down the path that Sasuke had run earlier. Not far into the woods she could make out something lying on the ground, unmoving. Upon closer inspection it proved to be Sasuke. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she shook him gently.

"Sasuke, can you get up?"

Hearing only a groan in reply, Sakura frowned and slowly rolled him over to see if he was injured. With some effort she finally got the Uchiha lying on his back.

Sasuke had a few small bruises on him, but all in all he looked just fine. Nudging him again in an attempt to wake him up proved futile. Finally catching a glimpse of his neck, she spotted a small needle mark. Looking a little closer, she closely inspected the spot,

'Hmm, seems that the hunter-nin used a drug or something to knock him out. Guess that means I'll have to carry him after all"

After quickly checking Sasuke's pulse and breathing, she hoisted the unconscious teammate onto her back and began walking back to Naruto. Emerging from the forest she found Naruto kneeling next to Kakashi.

Walking up to him she called out,

"Is he ok? He took quite a hit from Zabuza"

Naruto looked up,

"As far as I can tell he seems to be ok. There's no obvious damage really, no broken bones, his pulse is strong and nothing is wrong with his breathing. I'm guessing its just a mix of chakra exhaustion and regular exhaustion, it may be a while before he's up and running again."

Sakura quirked an eyebrow,

"Your telling me he got hit by that massive explosion and nothing is wrong with him?"

Naruto, slowly working Kakashi onto his back, responded,

"Well if it was the same rank jutsu from almost any other elemental attack, he'd probably be dead, however luckily enough, water is primarily a defensive chakra nature, so even its higher powered techniques aren't quite as good at killing someone. Taking that into account, and some luck on Kakashi's side, he came out of it just fine, but if he had struck his head or something he would have been killed"

Tazuna walked over and picked up Naruto and Sakura's packs.

"Well let's get out of here before more of Gato's goons show up to party"

Naruto kneeled down and shifted the unconscious Kakashi onto his back,

"So why is Sasuke still unconscious? Is he hurt or something?"

They began walking down the road as Sakura replied,

"No, as far as I can tell the hunter-nin hit him in the neck with some sort of sedative, he should be fine in a few hours, he's just going to be really tired."

Naruto looked back to the road,

"Good so at least then the only person we have to worry about is Kakashi"

Tazuna piped in,

"As soon as we get to my home my daughter, Tsunami, will be able to keep an eye on your sensei. She's no doctor, but if all he needs is some bed rest and aspirin, she'll be perfectly able to handle that."

Sakura and Naruto both looked relieved at not having to take care of Kakashi when they got to Tazuna's.

After a few more minutes of walking down the road Naruto looked back over to Tazuna,

"So what's up with this Tazuna guy that he wants you dead so bad? You in debt or something?"

Tazuna shook his head,

"No, Gato is the head of a large shipping organization, or at least that's his cover. In reality he uses his shipping firm as a drug and slave trade."

Naruto looked a little shocked,

"So why does he need Wave country then?"

Tazuna sighed; this was not exactly a happy subject,

"Wave country is completely dependent on its shipping. We are isolated from the rest of the world by the expanse of water. Using his shipping corporation he came in offering us very good deals for shipping, once he had the entire market monopolized, he slowly began increasing all his rates. Now none of us can actually afford to sell anything to mainland. Fisherman, which are the staple of our economy, cannot afford to sell their fish anywhere off of the islands anymore, and because of Gato's blockade around the island they can't bring them over by themselves or else they could be killed."

Naruto frowned,

"So why hasn't anyone done anything about him?"

Tazuna's eye's dimmed,

"We tried, we really did. But this man has millions of dollars backing him and a couple hundred thugs. They rape and pillage without any reason. As long as we do what he says, he keeps them at bay. The only person who ever really publicly fought against him was executed in front of everyone. Now anyone that was willing to fight is to scared to do it."

Sakura piped up from behind them,

"So that's why you're trying to build the bridge isn't it. If that bridge is complete you won't have to worry about shipping anymore, you'll be able to use carts to get your stuff over to mainland to sell."

Tazuna smiled,

"That's the general idea behind it anyways. It's not quite as simple as you make it sound, because many of the islands aren't connected to this main island by anything, so they'll still need to ship some stuff, but overall the bridge will make commerce much easier. Plus we're hoping that having an easy access to land will help increase tourism since we have some very nice beaches around here. One of these days you guys will have to go visit one of them. There is a very nice one not far from the worksite."

Naruto smiled at the idea,

"Who knows, maybe if everything is quiet enough we'll be able to afford some time off, but as it sounds right now, I think we'll have our hands filled, especially with Sasuke and Kakashi out of commission."

Walking down the dirt road some more, Naruto and Sakura stayed on high alert in case someone else decided to attack. It was highly unlikely that Gato had a third party set up to ambush them, but it never hurts to be a little over cautious.

Breaking the silence, Tazuna spoke up,

"So why do those two on your backs seem to dislike the two of you so much? Seems to me that you two are the more amiable of the group"

Naruto shrugged,

"Well Kakashi seems to have a grudge against me for something that happened a very long time ago, and Sasuke just doesn't seem to like anyone unless they're willing to help him gain more power."

Tazuna looked over at Naruto,

"What could you of done 'a long time ago' that has Kakashi so pissed at you. You don't look older than thirteen so you must have done something really bad as a young child. But I find that kind of hard to believe."

Naruto sighed,

"Lets put it this way, it's something I had no control over and I was forced into the position. And unfortunately for me it was a damned if I do, damned if I don't kind of thing. I'm sure at the time the people in charge thought it sounded great, but in the end they seem to regret it."

Tazuna looked at Naruto questioningly,

"You're not actually going to tell me what happened are you?"

Naruto laughed a little,

"So you caught me trying to skirt around it. Well, I'm sorry Tazuna, but it's not something that I like to share unless I find it necessary to do so. It's nothing against you, its just a little personal"

Tazuna laughed,

"Fair enough, every man has his skeletons"

Naruto looked at him strangely,

"You know the last person that I told that story said the exact same thing"

Tazuna chuckled,

"Well great minds must think alike then"

Sakura busted out laughing,

"What's so funny?"

Naruto, between chuckles told him,

"The last person who told me that was a drug runner who was disguised as a merchant, who ended up almost getting us killed."

Tazuna laughed,

"Ok so maybe not great minds, but never the less it's a common phrase ok?"

Naruto and Sakura were still laughing lightly,

"Fair enough I suppose."

Turning the corner, Naruto could make out a modest two story white house in the distance.

"Tazuna-san would that be your house up there?"

Tazuna smiled brightly,

"Right you are Naruto. Hopefully Tsunami is home and has food ready for us."

Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly at the thought of food, blushing Naruto responded,

"Yea, food sounds pretty good to me right about now"

Sakura piped in,

"All I want is a hot shower and a bed to sleep in."

Tazuna laughed,

"Well luckily enough we have both of those for you. Once we get home I'll introduce you to my family, then we can have something to eat and you can have your shower"

Sakura smiled,

"Good. I know I'm supposed to be a ninja and everything, but there is always some part of me that hates getting so dirty all the time."

Naruto laughed,

"That's cause you're a girl Sakura"

Sakura glared at Naruto,

"And what pray tell is that supposed to mean Naruto?"

Naruto picked up the pace and pulled ahead of the group,

"Nothing Sakura-chan, nothing at all. But I think I smell dinner so lets hurry up."

Increasing the pace, it only took them a few more minutes until they reached the front door of Tazuna's house. Tazuna approached the door and knocked loudly,

"Tsunami! I'm home"

A tall brown haired blur bust open the door and hugged Tazuna,

"Dad! You were so late that I thought something may of happened thank goodness that you're ok!"

Tazuna patted the women on the back,

"I'm fine Tsunami, but these ninja that protected me are very tired. Two are unconscious and need to rest, and the other two are exhausted and would like something to eat before going to sleep."

Tsunami blushed at having missed the ninja, who were standing right behind her father,

"Of course come in, dinner is almost ready. We can put the two injured one's in a spare bedroom upstairs to recover."

Leading the group into the house, Naruto was a little taken aback by how nice the woman was to him. It wasn't often that a complete stranger would welcome Naruto into her house.

Once they got upstairs they found their way to a pair of small rooms.

"These are our guest bedrooms. You can put the two injured ones in here"

Tsunami opened to door to a room that contained a pair of futons lying on the ground. She unrolled them and helped the pair get their unconscious teammates off their backs and comfortably onto the mats.

"Are they ok?" asked Tsunami

Naruto looked tiredly at the pair,

"They should both be ok. Someone hit Sasuke with a mild sedative, he should be up by morning and Kakashi just has chakra exhaustion, but I expect him to be up within a day or two."

Tsunami looked down at the pair, worry still apparent on her face,

"Well I can look after them for you until they wake up. It sounds like the two of you have already done quite enough for my family as it is."

Sakura smiled at the women,

"It's our job Tsunami-san, besides your father seems to be a rather nice guy, once you get to know him a little"

Tsunami smiled,

"There's another room across the hall that the two of you can share if it's ok with you."

Naruto looked questioningly at Sakura, indicating that is was her choice.

"It's fine by me I suppose, we've had to share a room in the past anyways"

Tsunami smiled,

"Well how about dinner then, we don't have much, but we have more than enough for all of us"

--

Dinner was a pleasant affair overall, it consisted of fish and rice primarily. Nothing fancy, but so much better than the food they ate on the trail. As dinner was winding, Sakura, Tsunami, and Tazuna began some idle chatter, while Naruto looked more and more anxious.

Finally after sitting there for almost an hour, Naruto stood up,

"If I may be excused, I think I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back before too long"

Turning around, Naruto made his way to the door and disappeared through it. Tsunami looked over to Sakura and Tazuna,

"He seems like a really nice boy, but there's something a little strange about him. He looked like he was about to jump out of his skin at the dinner table"

Sakura looked down and seemed a little sad; Tsunami picking up on it questioned the girl,

"Do you know what's wrong with him Sakura"

Sakura looked up,

"Well not necessarily but I have a good idea. Naruto never actually had a family growing up, and it seems that most everyone in Konoha hates him. He spent the better part of his life wandering around the country by himself living off the land. To be completely honest, I'd bet that this is his first time at a dinner table with a family and he didn't know how to act"

Tazuna looked a little surprised at the girl,

"But he doesn't seem to act so strange all the time"

Sakura shrugged,

"The one thing I've learned about Naruto in the past few weeks that I've known him is that he is not nearly as easy to read as most people think. Sometimes he acts happy go lucky and the next minute he's completely serious. In all honesty I think the Naruto that we see all the time is mostly just a mask"

Tsunami looked at the girl a little confused,

"A mask? What do you mean by that?"

Sakura sighed,

"In the shinobi world, life is very hard, and we rarely live to become old. Living such hard lives tends to cause the ninja to break down, so as a defense mechanism we end up creating what we call masks. Masks are nothing more than something that we use to hide our emotions from each other and most importantly from ourselves."

Tsunami looked at the door where Naruto walked out, she looked worried,

"That doesn't exactly sound like a healthy thing if you ask me"

Sakura sighed and rested her head in her hands,

"Maybe not, but its better than breaking down. The problem is that eventually a mask will crack and if no one is there to help you when it does, you'll likely never recover"

Tsunami smiled at Sakura,

"So then you'll be there for Naruto?"

Sakura smiled a little, but it seemed sad,

"I'd like to think that I will be, but somehow I doubt Naruto will ever let me know what's actually going on. It's like being a knight in the game of chess. You're important enough for the King, the mastermind behind the game, to keep close, but not close enough to actually know what's going on"

Tsunami frowned,

"You and Naruto are way to you to have to worry about such things. No child should ever have to deal with what you guys do"

Sakura shrugged,

"Maybe not, but its all we know. Since we were little we have trained to become ninjas. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't walk away from being one, no more than Tazuna could walk away from his bridge"

--

Outside, Naruto was wandering around the forest looking around at the beautiful blooms that were sprouting up in the area. Apparently the Country of Wave was able to stay warmer in the winters because of the sea that surrounded the islands.

Naruto smiled as he knelt next to a strange white flower that was growing in a small clearing the woods.

He heard someone behind him; spinning around quickly he looked into the quickly falling darkness,

"Who's there" he called out.

Out of the forest walked a young lady, wearing a light pink yukata and had her long black hair falling feely about her face.

Raising her hands in a placating manner she answered,

"I'm sorry to have startled you. I just heard someone walking through the woods as I was heading home and I decided to check it out."

Naruto lowered his hands, but still stared at the girl intently, she was very beautiful. She was pale skinned wearing the light pink yukata only accented her beauty. She had a small black choker around her neck and she spoke with a quite tone that seemed to fit her very well.

"So what are you doing out here alone at this time of the night then?"

The girl looked at the blonde,

"I live not too far from here, no one knows this land better than I do"

Naruto looked unconvinced,

"But it's a very dangerous time out here, especially for someone as pretty as you"

The girl blushed,

"Maybe so, but I need to get some medicine for a good friend of mine, who's become rather sick"

Naruto's gaze softened,

"Well I may be able to help you then, I'm not much of a doctor but I know a fair amount about plants, which ones are you looking for?"

The girls looked at the boy for a moment,

"I'm looking for a hibiscus roots"

Naruto smiled and pulled a small book out of his back pocket. The girl looked at him funny,

"What's that?"

Naruto looked up from the book,

"It's a flower identification book, I was trying to figure out what that flower right there is"

Looking over to where Naruto pointed, she smiled at the field of flowers,

"Those are called Calla Lilies, they're indigenous around here. They're one of my favorites."

Naruto bent down to inspect the flower,

"They are rather nice, but I've never seen anything like it back home"

The girl looked at him,

"Oh and wear is home?"

Naruto looked at her,

"Konoha"

The girl stared for a moment,

"As in the hidden village?" Naruto nodded his head, "So then you're a ninja?"

Naruto pointed to his headband,

"Yeah, but I honestly prefer living outside a village than I ever do inside of one. I always feel like I'm trapped in a city"

The girl smiled,

"I know what you mean, now can you help me find a hibiscus?"

Naruto stood up and smiled,

"Of course I can"

The two spent the next hour or so talking about nothing in particular while they were collecting various flowers and roots to use in medicines. After collecting the last few necessary things Naruto walked over to the girl.

"Well if that's everything then you should be all set, but if you don't mind I'd like to walk you home"

The girl blushed a little,

"And why do you want to walk me home?"

Naruto smiled nicely,

"Well its dark out and Gato has thugs everywhere, call it peace of mind on my part. I'd worry about you if I wasn't sure you got home safe"

The girl nodded her head and smiled,

"Of course then, I'd enjoy the company."

The two walked side by side down a long road towards the house the girl lived in,

"So how long have you been a ninja then? Asked the girl

"I've only actually been a certified ninja for a few weeks now, but I've been training since I can remember really"

The girl looked at him,

"So what's your reason for being a ninja?"

Naruto stopped walking, the girl turned around to see Naruto staring at the moon with a thoughtful look on his face.

"When I was younger I wanted to be a ninja for respect. Now though, I've made a few friends along my way and I've seen them get hurt. Now I just want to be strong enough to protect my friends, I don't have many of them, which makes them all the more precious to me"

The girl smiled, as Naruto looked over to her,

She was beautiful standing there in the moonlight. The soft light gave her an almost ethereal glow.

Walking over to a nearby log that was lying on the ground she took a seat and motioned for him to sit beside her.

"You know, you've been helping me all evening, but I don't think that I ever caught your name"

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly and stuck out his hand to her,

"Sorry about that, my name is Uzumaki Naruto and you are?"

She smiled and shook his hand,

"My name is Haku"

She looked up at the moon,

"You know, I always believed that you can only be strong when you're protecting something important to you. Whether it be an ideal or a person"

Naruto thought about it for a second,

"I like that idea Haku. I think I'll remember that."

Standing up he offered Haku his hand and lifted the girl to her feet.

"Now then lets get you home shall we?"

Haku nodded and they began walking back down the road. Not far down the path they came to a small cabin. Haku stopped,

"Well this is the place, thanks for helping me tonight Naruto"

Naruto smiled,

"It was no problem. I actually had fun."

As Haku turned around Naruto started talking again,

"Actually Haku, if it's not too much of a problem, could I maybe see you again sometime?"

Haku turned around,

"Sure I'd like that, I'll meet you tomorrow, after dinner at that field of Calla Lilies"

Naruto smiled

"I'll see you there then" and he turned around and started walking down the road he had just come from.

Haku walked into the cabin, seeing her friend lying on the bed still asleep.

As she began preparing the various herbs she had collected she heard the man speak,

"Who was that Haku? Another one of Gato's men?"

Haku continued drying the leaves of the hibiscus that Naruto had collected,

"No, just a friend that I made today Zabuza"

--

As Naruto made his way back to Tazuna's home he passes the small field of calla lilies. Stopping near the edge he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Naruto? Where have you been?"

Naruto turned around to find a worried looking Sakura standing behind him,

"I just went for a walk Sakura, now lets go back and get some rest ok?"

Sakura didn't really believe Naruto, but she had a feeling that she wasn't going to get a better answer so she consented,

"Ok, lets go" but after she had taken a few steps she spoke up again,

"You're ok aren't you Naruto?"

Naruto smiled at Sakura,

"Yea I'm fine Sakura. Just tired is all"

Sakura smiled,

"Well we can go back and you can take a shower and go to bed"

Naruto looked at her,

"I had planned on just going to bed"

Sakura scowled,

"Not smelling like that you aren't, now when you get back you get in there and take a shower"

Sakura continued walking and missed the small smile on Naruto's face as he thought to himself,

'She sounds like a mother…'

--

Well there you have it, chapter 5. Sorry that it took so long to get it finished, school has been getting ridiculously busy recently and as if that's not enough I just joined the Ski Patrol at a local ski hill and am starting my OEC training. I'll work on hopefully getting the next chapter out within a week or so. It shouldn't take me too long to get the next chapter written because I have bits and pieces of it already planned out.

This last chapter was possibly the hardest one for me to write just because for my story to work I had to follow the canon, but I'm not the best at working things into my story that I don't think fit very well, but either way I did the best that I could and I hope you all enjoyed it.

Now at the very bottom of this page, in the center is a new fancy green button that fanfiction just put there. It says, "Review this Story/Chapter" on it. Please click on this and tell me whether you like my story or if you have anything that you think might add something to the story. I don't really care, just tell me something.

Until next time,

Mechen Manachewagan

P.S. I decided that I'll take a small piece at the end of a chapter every once and a while to recommend a fanfic. This time I'm recommending,

Charm School for Ninja by Ambrant Arandel . I know this one sounds stupid, but I guarentee that you'll laugh your ass off if you read it. The basis of the whole story is that someone at a charm school for girls has been targeted by assassins and team 7 and 8 are sent to figure out who they are targeting and then protect them. Four are sent to the girls school and two are sent to the boys school not far away. As it turns out Hinata is moved to team 7 and they take the girls school. They reason the for obvious reasons the two girls are going there and Naruto and Sasuke get sent in along with them because they can use a toned down sexy no jutsu to blend in. Anyways the story is hilarious and is worth the read. Its laid out so it works similar to a normal arc in the naruto series. The story is a NaruHina and a SasuSaku (big surprise there but w/e). So sit back and follow team 7 through their very first B rank mission.


	6. Chapter 6 The Battle's Edge

Naruto woke up the next morning to the sounds of a busy house. Rolling over he looked towards Sakura's bed, only to see that it was already empty. Laughing lightly Naruto thought,

'We may be friends but she's always in bed by the time I get into the room and out of bed before I get up. She must not want me to see her in her pajamas or something'

Sitting up, he pulled his nightcap off of his head and yawned loudly. Kicking off his covers completely he started getting dressed. After the finally finishing wrapping some black bandaging around his ankles, to keep the hem of his pants from getting caught when he was fighting, Naruto stood up, put his vest with his knives on, and walked downstairs, foregoing his heavy cloak,

'I'll put it on before I leave to train today, not like I need that heavy cloak when I'm inside anyways'

Opening the door to his room, he saw Tsunami just closing the door to the room that Kakashi and Sasuke were sharing. Walking up behind her he asked,

"Are Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke awake now Tsunami-san?"

Tsunami let out a small scream and spun around, looking very startled,

"You ninja need to learn to make a little noise when you move around, you keep scaring the life out of me when you walk up behind me!"

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly,

"Sorry about that. I guess we're all so used to having to be quiet all the time that we don't even realize that we're doing it"

Tsunami's breathing slowed down,

"It's quite alright Naruto, it's not really your fault that I startle so easily. Anyways, yes, both Kakashi and Sasuke are awake, although Kakashi doesn't seem to be moving to much and Sasuke has a bad headache from whatever knocked him out, so I was going to get them some aspirin"

Naruto nodded,

"Thanks for your help Tsunami-san."

She waved the boy off and they started walking down the hallway as she continued talking,

"Its nothing at all really. Like my Dad already told you, you put your life on the line to protect him, the least I could do is to help your injured"

Naruto smiled warmly at the women.

"Maybe so, but its still nice of you. By the way, do you know where Sakura is?"

Making their way down the stairs Naruto heard Sakura call up to them,

"I'm in the kitchen making some breakfast Naruto"

Naruto followed the voice into the kitchen and almost busted out laughing at what he saw. Sakura was standing in front of the counter, wearing a frilly pink apron, mixing pancake batter while humming a tune that Naruto had played for her on his violin a while back

Sakura turned around, seeing the funny look on Naruto's face, asked him,

"What's so funny Naruto?"

Naruto let a little laugh escape as he answered,

"It's nothing much, I just think its kind of funny that the same Sakura who I've seen be absolutely ferocious when we're training and fighting, is standing in a kitchen wearing a pink frilly apron making pancakes"

Sakura scowled and glared at Naruto,

"And is there a problem with me making pancakes and wearing an apron?"

Seeing the look on her face, Naruto decided to not try his luck,

"Of course no Sakura-chan, the apron looks great on you"

Sakura smiled and blushed a little,

"Thanks Naruto. I'll have some pancakes done in just a minute"

Naruto sat down at the table thinking to himself,

'Girls are weird, I can never figure out what they're thinking'

Hearing the chair next to him slide out he turned to see Tazuna lowering himself into the chair and he quietly whispered,

"And trust me boy, they don't get any easier to understand"

Naruto looked at the old man with a confused face, which caused Tazuna to laugh,

"I've been around women long enough to know what the look on your face meant Naruto. I've been living with Tsunami since she was born, and I still don't understand what goes through that woman's mind half the time"

Naruto laughed at the old man, as Sakura set a plate of fresh blueberry pancakes down in front of Naruto. Taking a bite of them Naruto thought,

'It'd be worth never pissing her off just to get these again'

Tazuna apparently agreed seeing as how the two of them didn't say another word until they had worked their way through a small stack of pancakes.

Before long, Tazuna and Naruto were leaning back in their chairs comfortably patting their full stomachs. After a few minutes Sakura sat down with a smaller stack of pancakes for herself. Seeing that both of them were there, Tazuna decided that he would tell them the plan for the day.

"Well you two, I had a chance to talk to your Sensei earlier and here's the plan for today. Since both him and Sasuke are out of commission for at least today, the two of you will be coming to help at the bridge. We'll work till about five or so, so we'll pick up a lunch on the way into town. Kakashi thinks that both he and Sasuke will be up and moving around by dinner time so he'll tell you his plans for the week then"

Naruto and Sakura nodded, they weren't really all that excited at spending the day at a worksite, but a mission is a mission. They really don't get a choice in the matter.

Standing up, Naruto excused himself from the table and walked upstairs to continue getting ready. As he walked by his Sensei's room he heard Kakashi call out,

"Naruto is that you?"

Stopping by the door, Naruto answered,

"Yea, why do you need something?"

Kakashi called back,

"Come in for a minute, I need to get some details on what happened, but be quiet, Sasuke got pretty banged up the other day and needs his rest."

Naruto scowled,

'Banged up? The guy fell down after running away from a fight.'

Opening the door, Naruto found Kakashi laying on the futon closest to the door, waiving Naruto closer, Naruto took a seat on the wood floor next to Kakashi.

"So what do you need to know Sensei?"

Kakashi leaned up a little, before groaning and flopping his head back to the pillow,

"Tazuna said something about another ninja showing up and killing Zabuza. Can you tell me anything about it?"

Naruto thought about what had happened for a moment before answering,

"Well I managed to get a fairly deep cut on Zabuza's back, but before I had a chance to kill him, a hunter-nin showed up and hit him in the neck with a couple of senbons and killed him. We talked for a minute, saying that she'd have the money reward for killing Zabuza sent to me in Konoha. Then she picked him up and disappeared"

Kakashi thought for a moment,

"How do you know it was a female?"

Naruto shrugged,

"I guess I don't for sure really. The hunter-nin just had a very feminine frame, long black hair and a light voice. I just assumed it was a girl"

Kakashi frowned,

"Possible, but unlikely, women rarely make very good ninja"

Naruto scowled a little at that phrase, but now at least he knew why Kakashi didn't seem to like Sakura too much. On top of just being an all around ass, he was sexist as well.

Kakashi looked like he was relaxing before his eyes shot back open,

"Wait you said that the hunter-nin took Zabuza's body"

Naruto answered with a nod of his head, before Kakashi yelled out,

"You worthless, moronic, piece of shit! Hunter-nin dispose of the body on site. That hunter-nin most likely works for Zabuza you idiot, now because of you he's still alive!"

Naruto, flustered, answered back,

"How was I supposed to know that? That was never in anything that I read"

Kakashi just glared at Naruto,

"Just get out of my sight Naruto. I really don't want to put up with you right now…"

Naruto stood up and stomped out of the room before slamming the door. He knew he was acting a little bit childish, but he didn't really care at this point. Walking into his room, he saw Sakura counting her remaining arrows. Looking up at Naruto, Sakura asked,

"Is everything alright Naruto? You look really pissed off"

Naruto scowled and flopped down onto his futon,

"Kakashi thinks that the hunter-nin was working for Zabuza and that he's not really dead. And apparently that's all my fault"

Sakura scowled,

"That's not really fair, he should be thanking you, you saved his life. If you hadn't stepped in, Zabuza would have killed him and me."

Naruto shook his head, letting a small tear escape his eye.

"I'm tired of getting blamed for everything in this team Sakura. I try so hard to not let it get to me, but no matter what I do I get yelled at, and I keep putting you in danger because of people trying to hurt me"

Sakura's eye's softened, Naruto rarely showed such emotions, so she felt it best if she tried to comfort him at least a little bit. Walking over to him she gave him a light hug.

"Not everyone hates you Naruto, you do have friends, always remember that."

Naruto nodded his head and mumbled,

"Thanks Sakura-chan"

Sakura stood up and extended a hand to help Naruto up,

"Don't worry about it, now come on we need to get ready to go."

Accepting the hand, Naruto stood up and fastened his large black cloak around himself and they made there way down to the entryway to wait for Tazuna.

--

Within a few minutes, Tazuna met them in the entryway, laden with tools that he would apparently need that day. Stopping at the hall closet, just inside the front door, Tazuna pulled out two strange looking plastic helmets and handed them to Sakura and Naruto.

"Those are safety helmets, the two of you are going to need those today when we're on site"

Sakura scowled as she looked at the dingy yellow helmet,

"No disrespect intended Tazuna-san, but those are possibly the last thing that I want to put on my head. They look really bad"

Tazuna laughed as he placed a helmet on his own head,

"Yea, I admit they're not much to look at, but they'll protect your head incase something falls"

He turned and lightly rapped Naruto over the head with his knuckles,

"Not all of us are as fortunate as your friend here to be gifted with a hard head and really quick healing"

Naruto scowled as he rubbed his head and mumbled,

"Why does everyone keep picking on me?"

Sakura giggled at Naruto's antics and answered,

"Because you make it so easy Naruto"

Tazuna laughed and handed them the helmets,

"Well come on you two, we still need to stop by town and grab a lunch before we get to the work site."

As they began walking down the road to town, Naruto turned towards Tazuna,

"Hey Tazuna, how come we're buying our lunches in town instead of just having Tsunami make them for us?"

Tazuna looked over towards Naruto and Sakura,

"Do you know anything about economics Naruto?"

Naruto looked at him confusedly and answered,

"Eco what?"

Tazuna laughed,

"Economics. Anyways forget that then. I buy my lunches in town to make sure that some money stays in the town for the people there. Most of the citizens have become very poor so any little bit of money they can get will help them greatly"

Naruto smiled,

"I get it, so we're buying from them so that some money is still in circulation, that way they can buy stuff from other people so everyone gets a little money"

Sakura turned to Naruto with an incredulous look on her face,

"Considering you have no idea what economics means Naruto, you do a pretty good job at describing it"

Naruto smiled brightly,

"Yea, I am pretty smart aren't I?"

Tazuna laughed again,

"I don't know if smart is exactly the word I'd use to describe it"

Seeing the look on Naruto's face Tazuna just couldn't help but think to himself,

'I think I get what Sakura was talking about with that whole masks thing. Naruto continually acts like a fool, but he's a lot more intelligent than he lets most people believe.'

Not too far down the road they found themselves in the outskirts of the town. From the outside the town didn't look like it was too bad off. The paint on the houses looked fairly fresh and the road appeared fairly clean, but looking closer, Naruto could see children digging through dumpsters, looking for food. Parents walking around looking for work, anything that they could do to get money.

Naruto had a slowly deepening frown on his face as Sakura began talking to Tazuna again.

"You know at first glance the town doesn't look that horrible. Everything is newly painted and everything"

Tazuna scowled as he looked at the fresh paint,

"That was from when Gato first began taking over, he cleaned up the town, painted everything, had roads repaired, all to gain our trust. It wasn't long after that he began to suck us dry. I think he did this so that anyone that was quickly passing through would think that the town still looked prosperous, not dirt poor."

Sakura looked a little confused,

"Why would he want that?"

Surprisingly it was Naruto who spoke up,

"Because no one will have pity for someone who looks like they are doing well. If a man dressed in a fine kimono walked up to you and said that he was poor and asking for money, would you give it to him?"

Sakura thought for a second,

"Probably not, no. If he looks like he has money why does he need help?"

Tazuna sighed,

"And that's exactly why he did this. That way even if we did ask another person for help, if they don't look close enough, they'd think we were well off."

Sakura frowned,

"That's a dirty trick"

Naruto sighed,

"That's the unfortunate thing about life Sakura. Not everyone plays by the same rules that we do"

Sakura felt a small tug at the hem of her dress that we was wearing, turning around she found herself looking down at a small strawberry blonde haired girl, who couldn't be more than six years old.

"Do you have any candy?"

Sakura's heart nearly melted at the small child's voice, reaching into her pack on her side she pulled out a small pack of gum and handed it to the girl. The girl's small hand reached up and took it and smiled at Sakura.

"Your hair is very pretty. I hope I can have hair like that someday. Thanks for the candy"

The little girl ran away, back to a slightly older boy who was sitting at the side of the road, drawing in the dirt with a stick. Seeing the candy in the little girls hand, his eyes lit up.

Sakura smiled at the small children sharing her pack of gum.

"You probably just made their week you know?"

Sakura turned around to see Tazuna talking while Naruto stood next to him; they had both been watching the little exchange.

"Most kids around here never get much food anymore, let alone candy. It's to expensive"

Sakura scowled at the notion,

"Well, then lets get your bridge built then"

Sakura and Tazuna started walking down towards the peninsula where they were building the bridge, after a few steps they realized that Naruto was still standing there watching the children. Following his gaze, they saw him watching the two children run up to a girl who looked to be around seven or so.

She was digging through the garbage,

Naruto turned and walked towards Sakura and Tazuna with a frown marring his normally cheerful face,

He didn't say anything to Tazuna and Sakura as he was walking to the bridge, but they could guess what he was thinking. Thanks to Sakura, Tazuna knew that Naruto had grown up by himself, and if his guess was right, that poor girl looking in garbage for food had struck a rather raw chord with him

--

The bridge was just as awe inspiring to the two young ninja's as it had been the day they first set eyes on it. It was only about a hundred yards short of the other side. To Naruto, equally impressive to the bridge itself was the machinery that was used in its construction.

A huge crane, that was able to lift these giant metal beams that he couldn't even budge. Or the welding torches that got hot enough to melt steel like it was beeswax.

Well it had been cool at the beginning anyways, three hours later, boredom had completely set in. Naruto and Sakura were told to sit down at the head of the bridge. At first Naruto had argued with Tazuna saying

"But Tazuna, our skills could help you. I could easily create fifty shadow clones to help you"

Tazuna nodded his head,

"Yes, but none of them have ever worked on something like this before. Building a bridge isn't as easy as people think. If you make one mistake the whole thing could collapse and kill hundreds of people, so I have to be very careful. I can't let people who don't know what they're doing run around, so please just stay here and keep watch."

Naruto wasn't exactly happy with the idea, but it did make sense to him none-the-less.

He and Sakura were bored to tears though. Honestly nothing exciting was happening, finally after a few hours Naruto stood up and announced that if he couldn't help then he was going to do some training.

Sakura looked at him,

"And how do you plan to train on top of the bridge when we're supposed to be on guard duty?"

Naruto smiled,

"Easy we'll take turns. I'll train for an hour and then we switch, that way we won't get too tired and we always have someone watching"

Sakura thought about it for a second,

"But what happens if Zabuza shows up again?"

Naruto thought about it for a second,

"I doubt he's going to be up and about for a while. He had some pretty bad chakra exhaustion from fighting Kakashi and on top of that I got a good cut in on his back. I'm guessing he'll be out of it for a while."

Sakura finally relented,

"Fine go ahead and train, I'll keep watching for a while"

With Tazuna and the workers, watching Naruto train had become quite the spectacle to watch.

Naruto was currently doing vertical pushups with a bag of concrete mix balance on his feet.

Sakura laughed at the looks on the works faces as they watched her teammate work out. She had seen him balance large rocks on his feet while performing the same routine, so it wasn't all that amazing to her, but apparently the men had never seen anything like it before.

The day began to go a little bit faster once they put a little bit of time into training, but it was still dull work. By the time five o'clock rolled around, Naruto and Sakura were more than ready to hit the road and go back to the house.

--

At the house, Kakashi and Sasuke were just beginning to get up and moving again. Sasuke had taken up a spot on the porch of the house and stared at the road, completely unwilling to talk to anyone, even Kakashi.

Kakashi for his part had been given a pair of crutches by Tsunami. Apparently a few years back, a close friend of hers had broken a leg and needed crutches to get along.

Kakashi finally got out of bed and began making his way down towards the main floor. Near the top of the stairs he spotted Tsunami closing the door to another room.

"Is that your room Tsunami-san?"

Tsunami spun around with a yelp,

"First Naruto and now you, could you ninja please make some noise when you move!"

Calming down a bit she responded,

"And no that isn't my room, my son Inari lives in that room"

Kakashi raised a tired eyebrow,

"You have a son? Sakura didn't mention him to me"

Tsunami sighed,

"That's because Inari refused to come out of his room last night, so Naruto and Sakura never met him"

Kakashi stared at Tsunami

"You named your son after a fox God?"

Tsunami thought for a second,

"Well I suppose but Inari is also a god of rice, fertility, agriculture and several other things not just foxes"

Kakashi just grunted and made his way downstairs. Tsunami just stood there a little shocked,

'He was much nicer when he was unconscious'

Kakashi made his way down stairs and into the small kitchen, where he raided the refrigerator and helped himself to a stack of leftover pancakes that were sitting in the front. Not at all caring that they weren't his to eat in the first place.

Finishing his meal, Kakashi stood up began looking around the house for his student. After wandering from room to room for a good twenty minutes, he finally found his way out to the porch and to his brooding student.

Leaning up against the railing on the outside edge of the porch, he faces his student. After a couple of tense minutes Sasuke finally spoke up,

"What do you want, Thief"

Kakashi sighed,

"I didn't steal the sharingan eye Sasuke, it was given to me"

Sasuke turned towards Kakashi and glared at him,

"Bullshit Kakashi. I read my Dad's journal. It told me everything about how you got that eye"

Kakashi sighed,

"So what did it tell you then"

Sasuke glared at him,

"Apparently you were on a team with a less talented Uchiha. You got jounin before him and on a mission, you somehow tricked him when he was dying into giving you that eye"

Kakashi sighed again,

"Actually your not as far off as I had expected. I was on a team with a distant cousin of yours named Uchiha Obito. Obito was pretty useless as far as skills go, but he was an Uchiha, and even the worst Uchiha is a good ninja. On the first mission that I led, I got a slash across the face and lost my eye. Later Obito got half crushed under a boulder and was dying. I killed the man who got him, but it was too late to save him. Before he died though he gave me this eye, as a present for getting jounin"

Sasuke just glared at Kakashi, and Kakashi just glared,

"You still don't believe me do you?"

Sasuke just shook his head,

"Fine, but will you at least let me train you?"

Sasuke thought for a minute before answering,

"I need power Kakashi, whether from you or anyone else, so yes I'll let you train me"

Kakashi eye smiled,

"Good, then starting tomorrow we'll pick up your training again"

Just as they had finished their conversation, Naruto, Sakura, and Tazuna came around the bend in the road and were within eyesight of the house. Kakashi taking note of this looked back at Sasuke.

"Well it looks like the two drop outs are back with our client, so why don't you go get washed up, Tsunami should have dinner done soon"

Sasuke grunted and made his way back inside and towards the upstairs bathroom. Kakashi took the seat that Sasuke had been sitting in. Whipping out a small orange book from his pocket, he propped his legs up and decided to wait for dinner to be ready.

Sakura and Naruto, seeing their sensei walked up to him to see what was going on.

"Hey Sensei, are you feeling better?"

Peering over his book, Kakashi looked at the two in front of him,

"I thought I said I didn't want to talk to you Naruto"

Naruto's smile fell, and he walked dejectedly into the house behind Tazuna,

Sakura however looked at Kakashi,

"Why do you do that to him all the time to him Sensei, he doesn't really deserve to be treated that way"

Kakashi glared at the girl from over his book,

"You have no right to tell me what to do Sakura. You have no idea what that boy has done. If you had even an inkling you'd treat him the same way"

Seeing she wasn't getting anywhere with the man, Sakura walked inside to help Tsunami finish preparing dinner.

As she walked into the kitchen she caught sight of Tsunami talking to Tazuna.

Tazuna looked around,

"Where's Inari? I haven't seen him around since I got home the other night"

Tsunami looked a little sad and sighed,

"He's refusing to come out of his room again. He's just staring at a photo of Kaiza."

Tazuna frowned and started walking upstairs,

"Well he's coming down for dinner tonight, no grandson of mine is going to hide in his room when we're entertaining guests"

As Tazuna walked upstairs, Sakura approached Tsunami and asked,

"Is Inari your son?"

Tsunami nodded her head,

"Yes. I'm sorry that you haven't seen him since you've been here. Ever since his Dad died he's been rather depressed and doesn't want to talk to anyone anymore"

Sakura pitied the poor woman; her life did not seem easy,

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to his Father?"

Tsunami started to tear up a little,

"He was killed by Gato…"

Sakura was surprised to hear Naruto from behind her add on,

"He was the man that Gato killed as an example to the rest of the citizens wasn't he?"

Tsunami just nodded her head,

Naruto walked up to Tsunami,

"If you'd like to go sit down for a bit Tsunami-san, Sakura and I can finish making dinner"

Tsunami shook her head,

"No, its ok, I like to cook anyways. Besides it will help keep my mind off of it"

Naruto smiled at the woman's strength,

"Well then at least let me set the table"

--

Dinner started out much the same way it had the previous night, just with three more people sitting around it. Tsunami had prepared an amazing dinner consisting of various fish and a simple soup, but it tasted delicious.

Sakura and Tsunami were chatting, it had something to do about shampoo or something like that, and none of the guys were really listening. Tazuna was joking with Naruto about how he should have seen the look on his workers faces when he started training. Kakashi was talking to Sasuke about what training they should do. Inari, at the end of the table was scowling, not even touching the food that his mother had prepared for him. Finally after almost a half hour he slammed his hands down on the table shouting,

"What's wrong with you people! Your all acting like nothing is wrong! We could die and you don't even seem to care"

Tazuna piped up right away,

"Inari sit down and don't talk like that"

Naruto cut in,

"It's fine Tazuna-san, let him finish"

Inari turned to Naruto,

"What do you care, you sit there joking around. Don't you realize that if you don't leave your going to get killed by Gato and his men? At least you have the option to leave"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders,

"But if we go home" he pointed in the general direction of the town "they all die"

Inari started crying while yelling at Naruto,

"You talk tough, but you don't know what its like here. You live in a nice town where you always have food. You don't even have an idea what kind of hell we live in"

Before Naruto could respond, he heard a resounding slap echo through the room, looking over towards Inari, he was surprised to see Sakura standing in front of Inari, having just slapped the child across the face.

"You don't have any idea who you're talking to Inari. Do you have any idea what kind of hell Naruto and Sasuke's lives have been. You at least have a family to depend on, both of them have nothing."

Turning towards the rest of the table to get Naruto or Sasuke's help, she was surprised to see that Naruto's seat was empty and the blonde was long gone, while Sasuke was just standing up.

"I'm going to bed," grunted Sasuke as he trudged from the room.

Inari, still crying ran past Sasuke into his room.

Sakura sat down at the table,

"Sorry about that Tazuna, Tsunami, but I couldn't take it anymore"

Tsunami was about to say something, but Tazuna cut her off,

"Not at all Sakura, if anything it may have been what the boy needed"

Sakura still wasn't sure if she did the right thing,

'I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm sure the kid has not had an easy life, but its nothing compared to what my teammates have lived through'

Kakashi's voice pulled her out of her musings,

"That was a good meal Tsunami." Turning towards Sakura,

"Sakura, you and Naruto will have to guard Tazuna for the rest of the week, I have something that I need to do with Sasuke. Make sure you and Naruto are ready to go tomorrow morning"

With that Kakashi slowly got up and got his crutches under him and made his way towards his room.

Tsunami looked at the girl, knowing she was distraught,

"There's a nice hot spring a little ways away Sakura-chan. I was planning on going after dinner, would you like to join me?"

Sakura let out a small smile,

"Thanks Tsunami-san, I would love to"

As the two got up to start clearing dishes, Tazuna just poured himself a cup of Sake,

'And here I thought having the ninja would make things easier…'

--

Naruto was sitting by the field of calla lilies, playing his violin slowly, the same song that he had played for Sakura the first time. Staring at the flowers slowly swaying in the gentle evening breeze, Naruto was completely taken away by his own music. The sun was slowly beginning to dip into the horizon behind him.

As the song slowly came to an end he heard a voice from beside him,

"That song was beautiful Naruto"

Turning he saw Haku sitting just a few inches away.

"When did you get here Haku?"

Haku giggled lightly,

"I got here just moments after you started playing, but you were so into your song that you didn't even hear me"

Naruto sighed and set down his violin,

"Sorry about that, it's been a rough day."

Haku frowned and shifted closer to Naruto,

"Would you like to somewhere to relax then?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked at the girl,

"Umm… your not trying to… umm… you know?"

Haku looked confused before a dark blush crossed her face, waving her hands frantically in front of her, she stammered out,

"No, no. Nothing like that. I just know a really nice place that I always like to go when I've had a bad day"

Naruto laughed at the girl's obvious unease, after his laughter died down, a small smile stayed on his face,

"I would like that very much, Haku"

Naruto stood up and offered Haku a hand up, once she was on her feet again; he let the hand drop to his side before asking,

"So where to?"

Haku smiled and grabbed his hand again before leading him to a small path that led towards the center of the island.

Naruto on his part was a little shocked that Haku had grabbed his hand so abruptly, although after a little while she seemed to sense his unease and let go of the hand, settling for walking next to the blonde.

"So where are we going Haku?"

Haku just smiled brightly,

"You'll see in a minute. It's a bit of a hike to get there, but its well worth the walk, I guarantee it"

Naruto looked at Haku,

"The walk isn't bad, besides I have good company"

Haku blushed a little, but did her best to hide it from Naruto.

After a while the path became progressively steeper, but the trees remained as thick as ever so he couldn't really see how high up they really were. Finally after a while they came to a spot that leveled out a little, but a huge circular rock that was easily ten feet tall dominated the area.

"We walked all this way to look at the side of a rock?"

Haku laughed,

"Not the side, look over there, there's a small crevasse that goes up to the top that we can use to climb up to the top of the rock"

Naruto followed where she had pointed, and sure enough there was a small crevasse, only about five feet tall in the side.

Following Haku up into the rock, the crevasse proved to go all the way to the top, after a short climb, he pulled himself up over the edge and onto the surrounding rock. Standing up he brushed the dust off his pants and cloak before looking around.

The sight took his breath away. He could see everything around the island, but most importantly he could see the sun dipping slowly into the ocean. The suns bright red rays cascading into the open water, making it appear as if the entire ocean was ablaze.

"Wow" mumbled Naruto

Haku giggled,

"See, I told you it was worth the walk"

Naruto nodded and walked towards the western edge of the rock and took a seat, his feet dangling off the edge, as he sat and stared at the sunset.

"You know, in Konoha, I always used to go to the top of the Hokage monument to watch the sun set over the village."

Haku walked up beside Naruto silently and took a seat,

"Ever since I found this place, every day that I've had a bad day I find myself coming back here. There's just something peaceful about it"

Naruto smiled,

"Yea there really is." He turned and looked at Haku,

"Thanks for bringing me here Haku"

Haku just smiled,

"Naruto would you do something for me?"

Naruto, without thinking replied,

"Sure, what do you want?"

Haku giggled at how willing he was to help her, even though they just met the other day,

"Would you play that song again? I'd like to hear it again"

Naruto smiled and pulled out the small scroll that contained his violin,

"If that's all you want, I would be happy to do it for you Haku"

Naruto ran some beeswax over his bow quickly, before bringing the violin up to his chin.

As Naruto slowly began playing the sad song, Haku visibly relaxed and leaned back on an arm.

Time passed slowly that evening. Naruto played a few songs here and there, but mostly they just talked, about nothing at all. And for once, Naruto felt like he had found some small portion of peace in his life. He was sad to see that the sun had long since set and it was time to go.

As they began walking towards Haku's house, deep in the woods, Naruto turned to Haku,

"Thanks for tonight Haku"

Haku looked confused,

"Thanks for what Naruto? I didn't really do anything?"

Naruto smiled at the girl,

"You sat there and just talked to me, listened to me, treated me like a normal person. Not a teammate, not a brat, not some unwanted child. Your one of very few people who have ever done something like that for me"

Haku let had a small sad smile on her face,

"You're a kind hearted person Naruto, it's not hard to like you. If you ever need to talk again sometime, I'll be there to listen"

They walked in comfortable silence until they could see Haku's house just up ahead. A little ways out, Haku stopped and turned to Naruto,

"Same place and time tomorrow?"

Naruto smiled,

"Wouldn't miss it for the world"

Haku disappeared into the house, and Naruto turned around with a big smile on his face and started the long walk back to Tazuna's.

Almost twenty minutes later Naruto found himself at the back door of Tazuna's house facing an apologetic Sakura.

"I'm sorry about dinner Naruto. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, just Inari was getting so infuriating and I couldn't think of anything else"

Naruto sighed,

"Don't worry about it Sakura, I got over it"

Sakura stared at him,

"Where did you go Naruto? I looked all over for you, I couldn't find you anywhere"

Thinking quickly Naruto responded,

"I just went and did some training a long ways back in the forest where no one would see me"

Sakura just hung her head; she knew Naruto was lying,

"Well as long as you're ok. Lets head to bed, Kakashi assigned us to watch Tazuna again tomorrow while Sasuke and he start training"

Naruto frowned,

"Big Surprise there"

--

The next day proceeded very similarly to the previous. Naruto and Sakura got stuck doing the boring guard duty, while Sasuke and Kakashi trained. Just like the previous day, Naruto and Sakura took turns working and training, but no matter how you sliced it, it still wasn't really all that much fun.

Finally after the long hours of guard duty the team found themselves sitting around the dinner table about to eat dinner. Kakashi just before all the food was placed on the table turned to Naruto,

"Word from the town is that you're doing training when you're supposed to be guarding Tazuna and the others Naruto"

Naruto frowned,

"Sakura and I have been taking turns working and training, so he's never not protected"

Kakashi's voice, gaining an edge,

"Your not supposed to train Naruto. Once again your not following orders, when we get back I'm writing you up for gross insubordination"

Naruto, looked at Kakashi incredulously,

'For what? I didn't defy any orders, Sakura and I are both there and both are ready to fight"

Kakashi standing up and towering over Naruto,

"You continually disobey orders, your unruly, you argue everything I tell you to, and most of all because of you Zabuza is still alive!"

Naruto, also standing now,

"How the hell is that my fault? You're the idiot who ran right into his fog without planning and got his ass kicked. If it wasn't for me, you would of died!"

Kakashi scoffed,

"If you had just stayed in formation in the first place, I would of gotten him easily"

Naruto stared at Kakashi for a second to make sure he hadn't misheard him,

"Kakashi, the only time I willingly left formation was to intercept an attack that would of hit Sakura"

Kakashi coldly responded,

"Exactly, by blocking you gave him the time to make a water clone, if you hadn't blocked I would of killed him"

Naruto, pointing towards Sakura exclaimed,

"But that would of killed Sakura then!"

Kakashi just shrugged,

"Sometimes sacrifices are necessary to complete a mission"

Naruto just stared dumb struck at Kakashi, trying to interpret what he had just said,

"Your saying, you would have let Sakura die, just so you would have been able to get to Zabuza?"

Kakashi, his voice as cold as ice,

"Shinobi cannot let their emotions get in the way of their judgment. The best way to kill an opponent that has an advantage over you is to strike when they least expect it."

Naruto, his eye's an icy blue responded,

"Your sickening Kakashi, you would rather let a student die, than have to worry about an opponent later. You have got to be the worst sensei ever, you view Sakura and I as nothing more than cannon fodder"

Kakashi started screaming at Naruto.

"AND WHO ARE YOU TO LECTURE ME YOU DAMN DEMON!!! YOU KILLED THOUSANDS JUST FOR FUN AND YOU HONESTLY EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE YOU CARE ABOUT ONE LITTLE BITCH!!!"

Naruto's eyes widened, before he just closed them completely, and turned and started walking to the back door.

Kakashi, still irate yelled,

"Where the hell do you think your going?"

Naruto, without turning around just mumbled,

"I'll meet you at the bridge tomorrow Tazuna-san I don't think that I'll be coming back tonight"

As he walked out the door, Kakashi turned towards Sasuke, who seemed to be the only person that was unaffected by the proceedings,

"Come on Sasuke we're going to go train some more, I want you to have that new jutsu down soon"

Sasuke just grunted before he stood up and began walking towards the front door. As Kakashi made to follow him, Tazuna called out,

"Wait Kakashi-san, what did you mean that Zabuza was still alive. He was killed wasn't he?"

Kakashi just grunted out a reply,

"Don't worry, he'll be taken care of" and he walked out the door after Sasuke.

The moment that they had left, Sakura burst out into tears. Tsunami ran over to the girl and enveloped her in a motherly hug, trying to calm the poor girl.

"It's alright Sakura, everything will be ok. Just wait" Cooed Tsunami into Sakura's ear, trying to calm the girl down,

Sobs wracked Sakura's body for a long time before the tears finally stopped flowing. As soon as she stopped crying she stood up slowly, and picked up her bow that was resting against the wall behind her.

"I'll be out late as well Tsunami, I need to do some more training"

Tazuna just sighed before taking a large swig of sake, straight out of the bottle,

"I swear, these ninja have got more emotional baggage than anyone I've ever met."

--

Kakashi was standing in front of an exhausted Sasuke, who was lying on his back, breathing heavily.

"Again Sasuke!"

Sasuke just kept breathing hard,

"I can't Kakashi, I'm tired, I don't have your stamina"

Kakashi just replied,

"I said do it again?"

Grunting loudly with effort, Sasuke got to his feet and began making hand signs,

"Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

A small, but very hot stream of flames issued from Sasuke's mouth, but only for a second before Sasuke fell to the ground exhausted.

Between pants he managed to work out,

"That's all I got Kakashi. I'm out of chakra"

Kakashi frowned,

"That's only two more from when we started learning this technique, you don't have enough control yet"

Sasuke frowned,

"I'm trying Kakashi, but its not that easy. I have a large amount of chakra for my age"

Kakashi scoffed,

"That's a lame excuse Sasuke. Hell Naruto has better control than you right now"

Sasuke's glared at Kakashi,

"Don't you dare compare me to that Demon. I'm an Uchiha, I'm every way superior to the likes of him"

Kakashi's eye's narrowed,

"Why do call him Demon, Sasuke?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow,

"Because he's the Kyuubi obviously, same reason you do"

Kakashi stared at his student,

"And where did you learn about him being the Kyuubi, I know that I didn't tell you, and it's illegal to tell anyone who doesn't already know"

Sasuke closed his eyes and laid his head back down,

"Hard to punish the dead… It's written in my Father's journal"

Kakashi stared at Sasuke for a second,

"Well then if your willing, I have an idea for our next fight with Zabuza that should prove to be very beneficial, if your willing to cooperate"

Sasuke smirked,

"I'm listening…"

--

Naruto sat in the field of calla lilies staring at the clouds floating lazily in the evening wind. Looking to the west he could make out some very dark clouds on the horizon,

'I need to find a place to stay the night. By the looks of those clouds the rain is going to hit sometime in the middle of the night'

Sighing loudly, he raised himself up onto an elbow, just to come face to face with Haku who was staring at him.

"You look angry Naruto-kun"

Naruto was about to ask about the use of the honorific on his name when suddenly his stomach let out a loud rumble. Naruto blushed, but Haku just giggled,

"Well you look angry anyways, but you sound pretty hungry"

Naruto still blushing sat all the way up,

"Yeah, I kind of missed dinner tonight"

Haku extended a hand to the boy and tried to hoist him to his feet, only to end up crumpled on the ground beside him.

Naruto laughed at her,

"Sorry about that, I forgot that I put my weights back on this morning"

Sitting up, and adjusting her now wrinkled yukata, and pouted,

"I just washed this thing today…"

Naruto chuckled at the girl,

"I'm sorry Haku, I didn't mean to pull you down"

Haku looked over at Naruto,

"Yeah, I'm sure, and I was going to offer to make you something to eat too"

Naruto, in an attempt to save his free meal ticket Naruto jumped to his feet and bowed down,

"I'm sorry Haku-chan I honestly did not mean to pull you down and dirty your beautiful yukata"

Haku, while trying to pretend to be angry with the blonde, busted out laughing at his antics. Standing up she put a hand on his head,

"I was only joking Naruto-kun, now come on lets get you something to eat. I got some leftovers back home, we can go get those"

Before she could protest, Naruto had picked her up, one hand under her back, the other under her legs, and began running as fast as he could towards Haku's place.

Haku giggled,

"What are you doing?"

Naruto, now leaping from tree to tree just looked down at her briefly and smiled,

"I'm really hungry, and this way, we'll get there a lot faster"

Haku just laughed, but she couldn't deny the blonde's logic.

The wind rushing past them quickly chilled the poor girl, who was only wearing a thin summer yukata. Sliding down a little, she huddled into Naruto's cloak. Naruto feeling her moving around looked down,

"What are you doing?"

Haku just pouted,

"I'm getting cold, and your cloak is warm"

Naruto just smiled and looked back to the road before answering,

"Well we should be there within a minute or two, so just hold on"

Sure to his word, just minutes later they landed in a tree just outside the edge of Haku's house.

Naruto set Haku down gently on the tree branch, Haku was about to ask Naruto what he was doing, but she saw him put a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet.

Pointing down to the house Naruto asked quietly,

"Those guys friends of yours?"

Following the direction that he was pointing in, Haku spotted a pair of large men, both wearing a sword on their hip approach the door of her house and started banging on it.

Haku looked back at Naruto and whispered,

"No, I think they're some of Gato's thugs"

Naruto smiled a little evilly,

"I've had a bad day, so what do you say if I mess with them a little."

Haku frowned,

"You're not going to kill them are you?"

Naruto, without looking at her responded,

"No. Someone as pretty as you shouldn't have to ever watch something like that"

Then without a sound, Naruto was gone, and standing behind the thugs. After they pounded on the door a few more times he quietly said,

"You know, when someone doesn't answer the door, that normally means that they are either not home, or that they don't want to talk to the people at the door."

The two men spun around, only to find empty space.

"Either way I'd prefer that you just leave Haku alone, so why don't you just go back to Gato"

Turning back around, the two thugs saw Naruto standing in front of door, his cloak drawn around him, and his hands in his pockets as he stared blankly at the pair of goons. Both of the goons laughed at Naruto,

"And what is some punk like you going to do about it?"

Naruto's eye moved up and caught the eyes of both of the thugs. Without having moved, Naruto used several of the fear stimuli that he knew, causing both of the thugs to instantly become wary of the smaller blonde.

"Simple, if you don't leave, I'll remove you from the premises"

The thugs, believing they had him outnumbered, took a step towards him, drawing their swords, when they felt the ice cold bite of steel at their necks.

Naruto just looked at them activating a few more stimuli, and growled out

"I believe that I said to leave"

Dropping their swords, both of the men ran away, with their tails tucked beneath their legs.

As soon as they were out of sight, Naruto leapt back up into the tree where he had left Haku just minutes before. Haku and her part just stared at her friend,

"How did you do that? First you made them almost wet themselves without even lifting a finger, and then two more of you just pop out of nowhere and put a knife to their neck"

Naruto laughed as he picked the girl back up and jumped down from the tree.

"How about I tell you over dinner?"

Haku just smiled and laughed,

"Its always about food"

--

Sakura was back at the bridge, by a makeshift archery range that she had set up the previous day for training. Because she could only really practice during the times she was on guard duty, the range was set up just beside the bridge by a small creek that fed into the ocean.

Straining she pulled back the double compound bow that Yamato had given her not long before they left for the mission. It wasn't easy to draw back, but the more she had been practicing with it, the easier it became.

"It's not easy to watch them is it?"

Sakura released the arrow at the target before turning around to see the familiar old Taoist monk sitting on a rock nearby, staring complacently at the ocean.

Sakura stared at the man for a second,

"Do you just pop out of no where or how on earth do you keep appearing and disappearing out of no where?"

The old man just laughed,

"Oh come now, let an old man have a few simple pleasures. It's far more entertaining to see your faces this way anyways"

The old man stood up and walked over towards Sakura,

"You know if you square your stance off a little more and straighten your left elbow, you'll have a better shot."

Sakura raised an eyebrow,

"And what would an old monk know about shooting a bow"

The old man smiled and stood up,

"Oh come now child, you do not think that I was always a monk, do you? I started off not much differently from you"

Reaching behind the rock he was previously sitting on he pulled out an almost six foot longbow and a quiver of arrows.

Standing along side of Sakura, he drew the large bow back, squaring his shoulders, so he stood perpendicular to the target, he drew the arrow back, till the fletchings rested just below his right eye. Uncurling his fingers he let loose the arrow, where it struck dead center of the target.

Sakura stared wide-eyed at the old man,

"How did you do that? By the looks of your eyes, you shouldn't be able to see, but you still hit that target dead center!"

The old monk laughed quietly as he set his bow back down,

"I even amaze myself some days. But I was able to see for many years, and my vision didn't just disappear all at once. I guess over time I just got used to it. I don't really even notice it anymore"

Sakura just stared at the man, before walking over and taking a seat on the rock.

"So why are you here? I'm sure its not just to correct my form"

The old monk taking a seat beside her just replied,

"Of course not, that was just an added bonus. I just wanted to talk to you"

Sakura looked at the old man,

"Why me? I thought you were watching Naruto?"

The old man continued staring at the sea,

"Of course I am, I watch all of you, all the ancients, Titus, the demons, the Gods, the kings, the warriors, and so I also watch you. It's my job; I am the keeper of legend, the one who is burdened to remember everything that has come to pass. Which is why I'm here talking to you Haruno Sakura."

The man stared at the ocean as a single tear escaped his eye,

"I've walked this land for far to many years Sakura. It was the task given to me, and it is my solemn obligation to see that task fulfilled."

Sakura looked at the man intently,

"So why are you telling me this?"

The man chuckled lightly again, wiping the lone tear from his eye,

"I don't know, maybe its an old man's musings, maybe its because you play an important role is what has happened. Contrary to what most will tell you, there is not a plan for everything in this world. We are all players in a giant game. All dancers in a waltz."

Sakura was a little confused,

"A waltz?"

The man, understanding her confusion decided to elaborate,

"There is a old form of dancing called a waltz. Each waltz has a certain set of beats, measures, a set mood, and speed. But there are many different types of waltzes and it is the dancer's decision to how he or she will perform, or whether to perform at all. Each one is eternally locked into the dance, but they still choose where they go, until the dance is ended."

Sakura gazed out to sea, trying to make sense of what the old man was talking about,

"So the waltz is like life in that manner. We are forced to be in it, but we still maintain free will"

The old monk smiled,

"That's a simpler way to put it I suppose, but personally I prefer how Amarius worded it"

Sakura raised and eyebrow,

"When did Naruto ever say something about a dance"

The man quickly replied,

"Not Naruto, Amarius. He was the one who coined the term the Dark Waltz all those years ago"

Sakura looked confusedly at the man,

"I thought you said that Naruto is Amarius"

The man, without hesitating replied,

"And I did. Naruto may be Amarius, but that does not mean that Amarius is Naruto. I'm sorry if I have mislead you to believe that"

Sakura just rubbed her temples,

"You are infuriatingly confusing, you know that don't you?"

The man laughed,

"Of course I do. One does not live as long as I have without learning a few things about one's self"

He stood up and stretched,

"Now then, I must be going, and you should be training. May the stars watch over you Sakura, your going to need all the help you can get in the days to come"

As Sakura turned to say goodbye, she realized that he was already gone.

'How does he do that?'

Standing up she walked over to her target and retrieved her arrows. Walking back to a line she had marked earlier she followed the monk's instructions and stood more perpendicular to the target and straightened her arm. Drawing the bow back she anchored by her jaw line. Aiming down the arrow, she uncurled her fingers and let the arrow fly.

'I can't believe I'm listening to blind monk to learn how to shoot better' she thought as she giggled silently.

The arrow had struck dead center.

--

Naruto and Haku were sitting back on top on top of the same large rock that they had visited the prior night. Haku had insisted that they go on a picnic of sorts. Either way Naruto wasn't about to complain. The girl had brought quite the spread, shrimp fried rice, baked yellow snapper, some salad, sushi rolls, and a miso soup.

Naruto lay back on the blanket that Haku had spread out; quite content with the food he had just eaten.

"You are without a doubt one of the best cooks I have ever met."

Haku giggled at Naruto's comment,

"And how many different chef's has the great Naruto met throughout his life"

Naruto laughed aloud,

"Ok, admittedly not that many, but either way the food was delicious. A lot better than anything I've ever made myself"

As silence crept over them, Haku noticed a small frown on Naruto's face slowly reappearing, like it had every time things had gotten quiet.

"Why do you keep frowning Naruto-kun? It doesn't suit you."

Naruto just sighed,

"I got into a fight with my sensei again today, and I don't think I can go back to the home I've been staying in"

Haku sat down next to Naruto,

"You mean Tazuna's place"

Naruto shook his head before answering,

"Well there too I suppose, but no I meant Konoha. I don't think I can take living there anymore."

Haku shifted so she was sitting right beside Naruto,

"Why can't you go back to Konoha? It's your home isn't it?"

Naruto frowned,

"Yes and no I suppose. I have a couple of precious people who live there, but overall I'm nothing more than an outcast"

Haku looked at the boy with concern evident in her eyes,

"So prove them wrong, make them acknowledge you or something"

Naruto sighed,

"Easier said than done. In the ninja world, acknowledgement is given to those with power. But ironically power is why they hate me in the first place. I'm afraid the more I gain in a vain attempt to gain recognition, the more that they will hate me"

Naruto looked over to the horizon,

"Looks like the storm that was heading out way has cleared. At least it will be warm out tonight then"

Haku looked back at Naruto,

"You're avoiding the subject Naruto"

Naruto sighed in defeat, knowing that the girl wasn't going to let him out of it that easily.

"Here's the problem. The vast majority of Konoha hates and fears me for something that wasn't my fault to begin with. I had no power over the decision, yet I am judged as if the whole situation was my fault."

Haku put a hand on the back of Naruto's head and lifted it into her lap. Naruto seemed to stiffen at first, due to the contact, but he slowly grew more at ease with the situation as Haku ran her fingers through his hair. Haku sensing his uneasiness commented,

"No one ever has ever held you before have they?"

Naruto laughed,

"No not really I guess. The few who ever did always seemed to be trying to stab me in the back… literally. Hell years ago when I lived in the orphanage they changed my diapers using 3 foot long tongs and gave me a bath the tying a rope around my ankle, throwing me into a lake and dragging me back in. I guess over the years, I just learned it was safer not to trust people unless I had to"

Haku was a little taken aback by this,

"So then why do you trust me?"

Naruto shrugged,

"I don't know. There's something about you I suppose. Something that tells me everything is going to be ok"

The pair fell into a comfortable silence again, as Haku absentmindedly ran her fingers through Naruto's hair. Eventually Haku started talking again,

"So what are you going to do tonight if you can't go back to Tazuna's?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders,

"I dunno, I'll probably just sleep outside somewhere. I've spent the greater portion of my life living outdoors, so what's a few more days?"

Haku was silent for a moment,

"Why don't we just stay here? I have a tent that we could use"

Naruto opened an eye and looked at the girl,

"We? You have a home to go back to Haku and a friend to take care of back there remember?"

Haku laughed,

"I guess your right"

Naruto shrugged,

"It's been known to happen occasionally, but I think I may stay here tonight, if you'd lend me that blanket that is"

Haku just smiled,

"Of course Naruto-kun… Would you mind if I stayed here for just a while longer though?"

Naruto smiled,

"Of course not, it's not like I actually like being alone all of the time. And as it is, you seem to be one of the few people on this island willing to put up with me."

Haku looked back at Naruto. Naruto could have sworn he saw a flash of sorrow cross her eyes, but he quickly dismissed it as the darkness playing tricks on him.

"I don't think I'll be able to see you tomorrow Naruto-kun. I have to help my friend get some stuff ready tomorrow, but hopefully the following day we can meet again.

Naruto sighed,

"Not much I can do about it then. Guess I'll just train or something tomorrow"

Naruto sat up, and removed his cloak and vest, placing them in a pile nearby. Pulling out the small metal scroll case that contained his violin, Naruto was about to summon it to play a song, when Haku's hand stopped him.

"You've already played for me, why don't you let me do something for you this time"

Naruto looked at the girl expectantly,

"You play an instrument as well?"

Haku shook her head,

"No, I sing. So why don't you just lay back down and I'll sing you a song"

Naruto lay back down on the blanket, using his bunched up cloak as a pillow.

Haku sat down next so him and began softly singing a lullaby,

"Good night my angel time to close you eyes

And save these questions for another day

I think I know what you've been asking me

I think you know what I've been trying to say"

Naruto closed his eyes and listened as Haku softly sang for him. No one had ever sung any sort of lullaby for him. He could not help but feel incredibly peaceful as he listened to her voice softly waft through the night air. He felt himself slowly succumb to exhaustion as she continued to sing.

"I promised I would never leave you

And you should always know

Where ever you may go

No matter where you are

I never will be far away"

Thinking back on the occasion, Naruto would swear there were more words after this, but by this time he had slipped into blissful sleep, with a contented smile on his face. Haku knew that Naruto had fallen asleep but continued on with the lullaby anyways. After another minute or two she finally finished. Bending over she kissed Naruto's forehead and whispered,

"Sleep well Naruto-kun"

And she disappeared into the night.

--

The next morning Naruto woke up right before sunrise. Stretching out he looked in the direction of Tazuna's house.

'I should of grabbed my pack before I left. I'll need to pick it up one of these days, it has all of my gear in it'

Jumping down from the rock, he made his way down towards the small stream that wound its way down to the shore where Sakura had built her range. Removing most of his clothing, Naruto jumped headlong into a deep hole in the stream to clean off.

Grabbing a handful of sand off of the riverbed he began scrubbing lightly at his skin to remove the dirt and grime from living in the wild.

"You really should pay more attention to your surroundings Naruto"

Naruto turned to the voice to see Sakura sitting on the riverbank watching him.

"Why, I know that you've got my back" Replied Naruto cheekily

Sakura put her hand into her face and sighed,

"You really are a knucklehead sometimes, you do know that don't you Naruto?"

Naruto just smiled at her,

"It's all just for fun Sakura. So what brings you out here so bright and early"

Sakura raised her hand, showing a small brown paper sack,

"I figured that you could use some quick breakfast before we need to head out."

Naruto began swimming towards the riverbank,

"Why don't you just walk on the water Naruto? You'd get out of there faster"

"I know" Replied Naruto "But once and a while its nice to pretend to be normal. Besides I like swimming"

Sakura just reached behind her and tossed Naruto a small towel, which he used to dry off.

"Where'd you get the towel?"

Sakura was sitting down on the gravel bank of the rivers edge as she replied,

"I used it to wipe down my bow, keeps it nice and clean"

Naruto tossed her back the towel and began putting his shirt and pants back on,

"How are you coming with that new bow that Yamato gave you before we left?"

Sakura glanced at the bow sitting besides her,

"I can use it just fine, but I have a hard time using it after about fifteen or so draws in a row my arms still get tired"

Naruto nodded,

"How about the Kunai Kage Bunshin technique?"

Sakura, pulled a few cinnamon rolls that she had picked up in town replied,

"I can use it now, but I can only make about twenty or thirty arrows at a time, if I try to force more chakra into it, it doesn't work as well. I can only use a few times before I run out of chakra. How about you, how's that new technique of yours coming?"

Naruto sat down and started munching on one of the rolls,

"You mean the Kanashibari technique? I can use it just fine, not too different from some of my older techniques."

Sakura shook her head,

"Not that one, the other one"

Naruto raised an eyebrow,

"What other one? Yamato only gave me the one remember?"

Sakura scowled at him,

"Fine play stupid, but I know that you've been practicing something else with those clones of yours."

Naruto put on a big cheesy smile,

"It's a surprise Sakura, just wait, you'll like it"

Finishing up his cinnamon roll, Naruto stood up and began buckling his vest on,

"We'll eat the rest of them as we go. We got to get moving if we want to make it to the bridge before Tazuna and the workers do"

Sakura, finishing the last bite of her first roll stood up, and began fitting her quiver to her waist and kept her bow in hand. Naruto raised an eyebrow,

"Expecting company?"

Sakura looked over to Naruto, who was pulling his sandals onto his feet,

"Well I figure if Zabuza got any sort of help from that hunter-nin, he should be up and running in the next day or two, so it couldn't hurt to be ready"

Naruto shrugged,

"I suppose, but I don't think he'd attack today"

Sakura, checking the string on her bow looked to Naruto,

"And why would you think that?"

Naruto started strapping his cloak onto his shoulders,

"Well the way I figure it, by today he'd be up and moving, but he wouldn't be prepared for anything yet. Personally I'd bet he waits a few more days before he attacks"

Sakura frowned,

"But according to Tazuna, there's only another two days of work left before the last pylons are hammered into place and by that time, 'A trained monkey could piece the bridge together'. At least that's how he said it"

Naruto looked over towards the bridge,

"So it'll happen tomorrow then."

Sakura nodded,

"That explains why Kakashi said that he and Sasuke will be coming tomorrow"

Naruto scowled,

"Great…"

--

Zabuza was sitting up in bed as Haku was applying another salve across the long cut on his back.

"The cut is almost completely healed Zabuza-sama, by the time that this last salve finishes drying, you'll be good to go"

Zabuza groaned a little as he stood up and began strapping his sword to his back,

"Good, I've got to get that old man within the next day or two or else Gato won't pay us, and if we don't get paid, we'll have to start moving again to look for another job"

Zabuza, pouring a cup of coffee, started talking again,

"Then again if we don't get on the move soon, hunter-nin are going to start showing up. So whether we succeed or fail tomorrow, we'll need to move"

Haku just nodded her head,

"Of course Zabuza-sama"

Zabuza, drinking his coffee and absentmindedly running a wet stone over his large sword looked over to Haku.

"Where have you been going these past couple of nights Haku?"

Haku's breath got caught in her throat, she had been so careful trying not to let Zabuza notice.

"Just out for some fresh air Zabuza-sama"

Zabuza, setting down his wet stone,

"Fresh air? If that's all, then who where you with the other night when you raided our food?"

Haku started thinking quickly, she didn't really want to lie to the man who had raised her, but she knew if he found out, he'd be furious.

"He's just a friend that I made. He's of no consequence."

Zabuza raised an eyebrow,

"Haku… Do you have a boyfriend that I should be aware of?"

Haku blushed and stuttered out,

"Of course not Zabuza-sama. I would never do something that would compromise our safety"

Zabuza nodded his head,

"Good, so you won't be sad if the blonde brat has to die tomorrow"

Haku hung her head,

"No sir, I would not" but she silently added to herself 'But that doesn't mean that I have to allow him to die'

--

Naruto and Sakura made it to the docks, just as the first of the workers were arriving. Taking up their spots at the entrance to the bridge, Naruto broke out his violin.

"You aren't going to train today Naruto?" Asked Tazuna, as he made his way down the road.

Naruto turned and greeted Tazuna.

"No, I feel like taking it easy today, so I'll just play the fiddle a bit, maybe watch for some fish, you know nothing to strenuous:

Tazuna leaned in a little closer and whispered,

"Are you expecting trouble?"

Naruto shook his head and whispered back,

"No not today at least, but they will be coming in the next day or so."

Tazuna patted the boy on the shoulder,

"You're a good kid Naruto, no matter what that sensei of yours says. If it will help, I'll personally vouch for you if he really does try to get you in trouble"

Naruto smiled appreciatively,

"Thank you Tazuna-san"

Tazuna smiled back,

"Think nothing of it, now then, I believe I have a bridge to finish" and he started walking off towards the end of the bridge to oversee the final pylons that were currently being driven into the seafloor.

Naruto was about to begin playing, when he just set the violin down on the bench he was sitting on.

"I don't feel much like playing today for some reason"

Sakura looked over to him,

"Are you feeling alright? You always like to play the violin"

Naruto sighed,

"Normally I do, but today just doesn't feel like the day for a song. I've been in my fair share of fights over the past several years, but this is the first time that I've sat on the edge of one before."

Sakura sighed,

"I know what you mean. There's and anxiety in the air. Even that old monk seemed tense the other day"

Naruto turned and looked at Sakura inquisitively,

"You've met that old blind monk?"

Sakura nodded her head,

"Yea, why? Is he a friend of yours or something?"

Naruto shook his head,

"No not really, he just has a habit of making appearances right before or after something happens. So what did the old fart want this time?"

Sakura thought for a second,

"Not much really, just talked for a while"

She could have told him what they had talked about, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Naruto leaned back into the railing at the edge of the bridge,

"If the old monk holds true to his words, I should be seeing him in two more days"

Sakura quirked her eyebrow, for her the monk just showed up randomly, he never set a time.

"What makes you think that?"

Naruto shrugged,

"He said something about explaining things to me when I turn thirteen"

Sakura looked at her teammate,

"Wait, the day after tomorrow is your birthday? Why didn't you tell me about it, I would have gotten you a present"

Naruto just closed his eyes,

"I don't normally celebrate my birthday, never seemed like a big deal to me."

Sakura just smiled,

"Well I'm going to get you something Naruto, no one shouldn't get a present on their birthday"

--

"So are you ready for tomorrow Sasuke?"

Sasuke, sitting in a private hot spring, in town just nodded at Kakashi,

"Yea I got it Kakashi, don't worry"

Kakashi smiled,

"Just remember to act the part and follow the plan. If everything goes alright this will work out all the better for us."

Sasuke let an evil smirk cross his features,

"Don't worry Kakashi. It won't be any problem"

--

Well there you have it, another chapter done. I probably won't update for at least a week or so. I have 3 exams this upcoming week, all three of them are in some of my more difficult classes, Statics, Physics and Calculus 2, so it should be an interesting week.

Anyways on a short note, I do not own Lullaby by Billy Joel, although it is a good song, you can find it on youtube easily enough if you interested.

I hope you like this chapter more than the last, apparently no one liked the last one, because I didn't get a single review for it. So please, if you hate it, like it, or just don't care just write a short review. Seeing all the people who have added the story as a favorite and what not is great, but tell me why you liked it, or didn't like it. I'll take suggestions as to what you think might be a good idea, and if I like them and they work into my story, I'll put them in.

Next chapter will obviously be the fight scene that I've been working towards for the last two chapters of this story, I could of possibly put it onto the end of this chapter, and just had a twenty thousand some odd word chapter, but I felt like leaving a small cliffhanger.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the story, but as a personal favor, I haven't been able to find a new story that I liked within the last few weeks, so if anyone has a recommendation to a story that you thought was good please tell me. I am in need of something decent to read.

So until the next time,

Mechen Manachewagan


	7. Chapter 7 Lacrimosa

Naruto sat in a self-induced solitary confinement at the top of his rocky home overlooking the palisade that was created by the flowing young river just below him. Behind him the quickly fading sun marked the passing of another day in the misty islands.

"Tomorrow is your birthday isn't it Naruto?"

Naruto looked down to his pink haired companion below him, working on her archery skills.

"Yeah it is why?"

Sakura walked over to where Naruto was sitting quietly, and set down he bow.

"Well because I got you a present, and I thought I could give it to you tonight"

Naruto smiled softly,

"You know that you didn't have to get me anything."

Sakura smiled and handed Naruto a small plain box. Naruto smiled in turn and took the small box from her hand while murmuring,

"Thank you Sakura"

Opening the box slowly Naruto and saw fine silver chain sitting in the bottom of the box. Naruto picked it up and set the box down on the rock next to him, admiring the fine silvery chain.

Sakura plopped down on the rock next to him looking at him expectantly. Trying, and failing, to contain her excitement she burst out.

"It's a chain that you can put your rings on and wear them, that way you'll never accidentally loose them ever again. Its even silver so it should match the cloak and stuff that you where all the time"

Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew the familiar box that Naruto kept his rings in.

"Kakashi took your packs from the room saying that it was supposed to be evidence or something like that so I couldn't get all of your stuff, but I was able to get these out without him noticing."

Naruto reached over and took the small box. Sending another quiet smile towards Sakura. Slowly sliding it open, he took the two rings into his hand and threaded the carefully onto the silvery chain.

Sakura grabbed the two ends of the chain and wrapped them around Naruto's neck before securing the two ends of the chain together. Wrapping her arms around the boy, she pulled him in for a brief hug, while whispering,

"Happy Birthday Naruto-kun"

Naruto hesitantly returned the hug and whispered back,

"Thank you Sakura-chan"

--

Naruto sat quietly on the top of the bluff that Haku had shown him several nights ago, beside a small warm fire, staring dolefully at the waning moon. Opening his cloak he withdrew the chain that Sakura had given him earlier that afternoon. It was the first day in almost a week that he had not spent the evening with his new friend Haku, and honestly he felt a little lonely, he had become rather comforted by her presence. Tucking the rings back inside his cloak Naruto looked up to check on the fish he had roasting beside the fire, only to meet the gaze of a familiar old monk.

The monk gave his slightly disconcerting smile,

"Tomorrow is the tenth you know, an important day for this world. In 732 the Battle of Tours took place, in 1631 Prague fell to a Saxon army, 1931 Woodrow Wilson blew the Gamboa Dike ending the construction of the Panama Canal, in 1970 Fiji became independent, the Celtics of old would have been celebrating Michelmas, in 2012 the predictions based on the VA 243 cylinder seal proved correct and the 12th planet entered into alignment causing a disruption that triggered the Mayan prophesized apocalypse, then in 978 the Kyuubi attacked your village and you were born. A lot has happened on October 10th throughout history."

Naruto eyed the old man, not sure if he was simply crazy, or if he actually knew what he was talking about.

The man just smiled knowingly,

"You don't believe me do you? Nonetheless it really doesn't matter to me if you believe me or not. It's not my job to convince you of anything, I'm only here to remember everything and to deliver bits of information here and there when I see fit, for instance."

The monk reached into his robes and pulled out a small black leather bound book of some sort.

"Two thousand some odd years ago, a man then known as Amaranth wrote,

_-October 10__th__ 2012_

_I found a Dog carcass in an alley this morning, a tire tread on its burst stomach. This world is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "save us!"... And I'll look down and whisper "no."_

_They had a choice, all of them. They could have followed in the footsteps of good men like my father, or President Truman. Decent men who believed in a day's work for a day's pay. Instead, they followed the droppings of lechers and communists and didn't realize that the trail led them over the precipice until it was too late. Don't tell me they didn't have a choice. Now the whole world stands on the brink, staring down into bloody hell, all those liberals and intellectuals and smooth-talkers... and all of a sudden, nobody can think of anything to say._

_And so it fell to us, to cleanse this world. So we will reseal the demons that were released. We will quell this rebellion and return the world to what it was meant to be.'_

Naruto stared at the old monk,

"Did you say Amaranth?"

The old man looked up from the book,

"Yes, this is the journal of Amaranth, The Undying Flower"

Naruto stared at him slightly confused,

"Sakura spoke of that man once a while back, said he was part of some old legend, "The Reapers" or something like that"

The man smiled, with a slight twinkle in his eye,

"Did she now? I know I liked that girl for some reason."

Naruto waited for him to continue, but after a minute of silence he finally broke down and just asked the man,

"So who were the Reapers anyways?"

The man smiled,

"And so know we come to heart of the question don't we. Well let me explain the best that I can. It has been said that for everything that happens there are five questions that will give you any information that you would want to know about any given event, Who, What, Where, When and Why. What you have is simply a pair of men who were given a nickname, you know of one, Amaranth, but the other one has been forgotten. What you don't know is why they were forgotten or where and when the events of importance took place."

The man smiled gleefully at the young ninja in front of him,

"Unfortunately for you, I cannot tell you what happened."

Standing up, he dusted off his robes,

"But what I can tell you, is that if you live to see the end, it will all make sense."

Hearing the man finish speaking, Naruto thought about asking another question, but knew it was pointless; the man had already disappeared into the darkness.

Naruto finished his meal quickly and laid himself to rest down on the warm blanket that Haku had lent him.

As his eyes slowly drifted close, Naruto couldn't help but think

"That old Monk is the single most aggravating person I have ever met…"

--

Naruto had been asleep for several hours when a shadow crept up over the rocky summit and slunk towards him and his dwindling fire. As it breached the edge of the firelight, it crept even lower, trying not to cast a shadow across the sleeping child. Drawing closer the face of the shadow wrought wraith stayed hidden behind a white porcelain mask.

The wraith brought one of its shadowy appendages up and lightly caressed the whiskered boys face. Gently running the hand down to his chin, the wraith teased the mouth open just a bit, and inserted a small green pill into the child's mouth, lightly rubbing the throat to get the boy to swallow the pill, you could hear the shadow ethereally murmur,

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I cannot let you be at the bridge tomorrow…"

As the shadow crept off back into the surrounding forests, a single slurred murmur stopped it in its tracks,

"Goodnight, Haku-chan…"

--

The next morning dawned with a burning red sun, glaring balefully down on the misty islands. Sakura was standing next to their client, Tazuna, staring back at the large red solar glare.

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight, red sky in morning, sailor's take warning"

Sakura turned towards the older man standing next to her,

"What does that mean?"

Tazuna smirked,

"Your very smart Sakura, but you need to spend more time with people. That was just an old sailor's quote. Long before I was an engineer I was a deckhand on a ship. That was something that the old sailors, from before the days of steam powered boats used to say. They always swore that when you saw a red dawn, that a storm was going to hit sometime that day."

Sakura looked back at the red sky,

"So that's supposed to foretell of some storm then? That's kind of strange, there aren't too many clouds out there, and it doesn't smell like rain."

Tazuna frowned,

"Not all storms are made of rain and lightning Sakura…"

Kakashi and Sasuke made their way out of the front door and began walking towards the pair staring at the sunrise out in the distance.

"Is Naruto here yet?"

Sakura turned to look at her sensei,

"I haven't seen him, although he normally meets us at the bridge, not here."

Kakashi just nodded,

"Ok then, we'll make our way to the bridge"

--

The four ninja's made there way towards the bridge just as the sun was beginning to fully break over the horizon, basking the entire island in its warm glow. Now that autumn was beginning to set in, the mornings on the island were growing cooler, leaving a damp chill that froze you to the bone. As the sun came up though it would normally break this low cloud of mist and take the bite out of the chill. Today seemed to be an exception to the rule though.

"This mist is unusually cold today Kakashi-san, do you think its because of one of those ninjas?"

Kakashi looked over to Tazuna who made the postulation.

"Not likely, its simple for a ninja to make something hot. The flow of energy to something always makes it warm; similarly chakra causes the creation of heat. Cold however is significantly more difficult, because you either have to make an endothermic reaction that takes energy away, or find a way to pull heat away. Normally people use wind to make it cold, but wind would be easy to see in a mist like this, so my guess is that this mist is a natural occurrence."

Tazuna looked at the strange man out of the corner of his eye,

"Couldn't you of just said no?"

Kakashi shrugged, his eyes never leaving the orange book in front of his face. Truth be told, he was also trying to figure out this fog, it felt too cold for the warm sun that he could see now well above the horizon.

'This doesn't make sense to me. This fog is obviously not natural, but I've never felt it this cold before. Some people used advanced wind techniques to mimic the joules-Thompson effect that could cool down the air, but you needed highly pressurized air to make that effect, which meant that air would have to be moving around. Which as the problem, there was NO air movement, everything was dead still, but he could still feel the temperature begin to slowly decline. He hadn't given Tazuna such a long answer because he wanted to talk to the man, but because reasoning out loud helped to reassure the man that his careful planning would still work out today. It had to.

Sasuke caught his eye, and using the small movements of the Anbu sign language he signed,

"Where is the Demon? This won't work if he's not here."

Kakashi, silently signing with his left hand, the one not holding his book replied,

"Keep calm, Sakura said he will meet us at the bridge"

Silently adding on in his mind,

'He had better show up… I have waited far to long to see this day come'

--

With an audible groan, the blonde haired boy on the top of his rocky summit, rolled off and out of his blankets and towards the warm fire. Coughing deeply, he forced himself into a sitting position. Staring at the already risen sun, he tried to jump to his feet, only to barely rock forward.

'Dammit! Why today, I can barely move, I feel like my body is filled with lead'

Thought Naruto angrily, for some reason, all his muscles were weak and sluggish, and his mind felt clouded, as though someone had struck him with a hammer in the dead of night. However he knew that wasn't the case, hammers had hit him in the past, and none affected him this heavily.

Fighting heartily against his body, he forced himself to his knees and began arduously strapping his tough black leather vest with knives around his torso. After several minutes of battling his lethargic and unresponsive fingers, he finally managed to get all the buckles secured.

Reaching to his other side, he pulled his heavy black cloak around himself to help ward off the cold that was creeping into him, further slowing his already dull movements. Fastening the top few buckles to keep the cloak drawn taught around his shoulders. Reaching into a pocket on the inside of the cloak he withdrew a small syringe and injected a small amount of a clear substance into his arm. One of the things a traveling medic had taught him long ago, was that almost every poison to work, it required the liver and other organs to break it down, such as how methanol is converted into its deadly byproduct, formaldehyde, which is what actually kills you. Luckily, or unluckily as it may be, the body has an odd function of breaking down ethanol or regular alcohol, before it would break down anything else. So as long as he dosed himself with the mixture of water and ethanol every couple of minutes and drank gratuitous amounts of water, most of the poison should be flushed from his system much quicker. So to start his metabolism he ate the remnants of his previous nights dinner and began a slow march down towards Tazuna's house.

It took him an hour or so to reach the home, but at least by the time he did, he was moving at the speed of a normal person. Not quite up to a ninja's standard, but at least he didn't look like he was at the edge of death. Walking through the back door to the kitchen he slid the door open to find a startled looking Tsunami holding a frying pan as if it was a baseball bat. Seeing the small blonde boy standing in the door, she dropped the pan with a loud clatter and rushed the boy engulfing him in a motherly hug.

"Naruto-kun, I was so worried when you didn't come back, and then the last day, everyone has been acting like they were on their death bed."

Naruto grimaced,

"Yeah well they're expecting an attack down at the bridge today, I was hoping to be able to meet up with them here, because something is wrong with me. I think someone got me with a poison sometime yesterday."

Tsunami grabbed him by his shoulders and immediately began looking him over to see if he was sick.

"Oh my God, are you ok? Is this something you should see your Sensei about?"

Naruto scowled,

"No that bastard wouldn't care anyways. Besides, I've got it down to it being bearable, so I should be ok. I don't think they were trying to kill me, just to keep me incapacitated for the day. Luckily, poisons don't usually affect me very seriously, and with my treatments I should be better within an hour or so."

Tsunami nodded her head, but maintained eye contact with the young blonde in front of her. Seeing that she wasn't really going to say anything, Naruto started talking again.

"Where's Inari hiding?"

As the words left his mouth, he heard a clatter at the front door and Inari came rushing in like a bat out of hell. Quickly diving behind his mother he called out.

"Gato's thugs are here to kill us!"

Tsunami dropped down and enveloped her child trying to protect him from the pair of thugs that just burst through the kitchen door. Naruto turned to face them, and slowly began walking towards them. Inari seeing this called out,

"Naruto! What are you doing! If you try to fight them they'll kill you"

Naruto, his face set in stone replied,

"I'm doing what you and the rest of this island should have done long ago."

As Naruto slowly stalked towards the two thugs standing at the other end of the long kitchen, he recognized them as the pair he met at Haku's home just several days before.

"I warned you once and let you go, this time I will rectify that mistake"

Stretching his arm out to his side, his scythe slowly appeared in his hand, starting like a blurry vision, and it slowly became solid. It took him quite a while to perfect that, but for dramatics he thought it invoked more fear into his enemies. As the scythe was slowly appearing, he began the hand sign for another new technique he created.

"kaguroi Kiri no Jutsu "(Deep Black Mist technique) he spoke in a quiet tone. As he walked, a dark, impenetrable black mist slowly enveloped the room, blocking all light from its midst. From within this darkness, Inari and his mother heard the screams of whatever poor men had attacked their home.

Seeing the mist fading, Tsunami began looking around. Soon she could make out Naruto's silvery knives as he stowed something inside of his black cloak. Looking down, she expected to see the bodies of the two men who broke into her home, but she was surprised to see not a single speck out of place on her floor.

Naruto walked back to the pair who were still huddled in the corner, dropping down to their level he put a hand on Inari's shoulder and got the boy's attention.

"I wise man once told me "All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible." You dream for a peaceful life every night Inari, I can see it in your eyes. But unless someone makes an effort to make that dream a reality, it will never come true. No one will hand you your dream on a silver platter, sometimes you're going to have to fight tooth and nail for it. The truth is that everyone here has that wish, that single glowing ember that could ignite the fire, but if no one is willing to feed it, it will never come true"

Standing up, Naruto began his slow still slightly awkward gait towards the front door.

"I'm going to go try to fight with your grandfather to help fulfill that dream Inari, hopefully I won't be the only one."

--

Heading down towards the docks, Kakashi called for his team to stop, less than a mile away from the bridge.

"We're going to wait up here to see if Naruto will catch up to us. This way even if he is at the bridge he will eventually double back to look for us. I don't want to go in there with anything less that a full team."

Sakura eyed the man warily. What he said did make sense, what bothered her is that he said it about Naruto. Since the day he had been placed in charge of team seven the man had never once gone out of his way to do anything for her blonde teammate. Which lead her to believe that there must be something a little fishy going on.

Looking over to Sasuke, she saw the boy make eye contact with her, before shrugging, which told her that he probably didn't know what was going on either.

Sighing she dejectedly took a seat next to Tazuna to wait for her wayward companion. Nearly a half hour had passed before they saw anything of interest when they finally say the rather distinct visage of Naruto making his way down the road. Seeing his party waiting near the edge of the road, Naruto made his way over to them

"Sorry I'm running late, someone…"

But unsurprisingly Kakashi cut him off.

"The reason for your tardiness is inconsequential, you knew that today was the probable day of an attack and you yet again disregarded your duties. I'll just add it to the list of infractions that I plan to bring up against you when we return to Konoha."

Naruto grimaced, he hadn't expected Kakashi to let him off the hook, but he was hoping to at least be able to finish his sentence.

Kakashi without saying another word stood up and began heading down the road, obviously intending for the rest to follow.

The group silently made their way down the last stretch of road towards the bridge. Sakura, noting the odd gait of Naruto's walk looked at him questioningly.

Naruto sensing her eyes quietly said,

"Someone got me with some sort of tranquilized yesterday. They must have somehow poisoned my food though, because I don't think I got stuck with anything. Most of the poison is gone, and I can use my chakra, but I can't quiet move at my normal speed. Without weights I'm maybe at what I was when we took the bell test"

Sakura grimaced, his speed during that test, while quick for a genin was nothing compared to what he displayed recently. If someone were to attack them today, they would be at a significant disadvantage.

Finally the outline of the first piers came into view as the group of five made their way to the start of the bridge. Looking out, the entire bridge was heavily clouded and the stench of blood permeated through the air.

Sakura almost screamed when she looked down to see she was standing in a pool of blood from some poor worker who decided to get to work a little early. By the time she looked up, the rest of her team was already getting into position around Tazuna as the mist broke a little and two ghastly wraiths walked forward.

As they drew closer Kakashi began talking to the group of genin,

"Ok here's the plan. I will take care of Zabuza, but Naruto and Sakura will be the ones to take out that unknown hunter. Sasuke, you stay back and wait for a signal before you do anything. Until then protect Tazuna, if he dies now, all our efforts will have been wasted."

Seeing Sasuke nod his head, Naruto called out to Kakashi,

"Kakashi, no disrespect, but Sakura is a long range fighter, wouldn't it make more sense to send in Sasuke and keep Sakura back to provide covering fire?"

Kakashi glared hard at Naruto,

"Sasuke is a far too valuable asset to toss needlessly in the way of fire. So you and Sakura will take the front line."

Kakashi's reasoning appalled Naruto because using that thought process he made Sakura and himself out to be nothing more than mere cannon fodder. Scowling he turned towards Sakura,

"Well we don't have much of a choice so here's the plan. I'll go in first because I stand the better chance in hand-to-hand combat, but you hang back and try to fire off some arrows. The problem we'll have is that the mist will be too thick for you to be able to see properly, so you'll have to stay fairly close, probably within 30 feet to be able to get a clear shot."

Sakura grimaced, that sort of distance didn't provide her with much cover. That and she was accustomed to attacking from a much greater distance, so she would have to modify her usual techniques to be of any use to her teammate. Nodding her head, she drew her bow and knocked an arrow, waiting for the show to kick off.

Kakashi eyed their opponents carefully; he knew that he could beat Zabuza this time around. He just had to make sure to fight the man this time.

--

Zabuza and the masked ninja looked at their opponents carefully. Both of them are silent although for completely different reasons.

Haku was almost in tears looking at the boy in front of her. Inside she was screaming,

'No! I gave him enough tranquilizers to keep him unconscious for two days. There's no way that Naruto-kun should be up and moving.'

Fighting down her unease she looked to her mentor and friend, Zabuza for instruction. They were up against a force of superior numbers so they would have to be careful.

Zabuza was staring at the group in front of him remembering what his old partner Kisame had told him all those years ago, when he aided Zabuza in escaping Kirigakure.

Kisame looked at the man below him, surrounded by hunter-nin. The man had already suffered multiple wounds and was moving sluggishly. Calling his samehada to his side, he leapt down, cleaving one of the hunters in two. He made short order of the remaining hunters until only he and the wounded man remained.

_The wounded man dropped to one knee and look up at Kisame._

"_Why did you save me Kisame? I know that the Kage is after my head and my sword."_

_Kisame looked down at the man._

"_I just killed the daimyo, but that is irrelevant. I spared you because the Ancients have use of you Zabuza. So today we defied the shinigamis and spared your life. However it but a postponement of the inevitable. One day many years from now a demon disguised as a child will take your life, but until that day you will have to take care of someone that I hold dear."_

_Zabuza stared at the larger man with a confused look on his face,_

"_Who do I need to watch?"_

_Kisame just turned and began walking away,_

"_On a misty road to the north you'll find her on the edge of death, I would suggest that you hurry."_

Looking at that blonde child standing across from him, Zabuza couldn't help but worry that this child may finally be that demon. He fought the child once, and was almost killed. Grimacing he turned to the side and looked towards the girl he had taken in as a child.

"Haku, if this fight goes south, I want you to run."

Haku's eyes went wide, they had gotten into plenty of tight spots in the past and Zabuza had never once said anything like that in the past.

"We will win Zabuza, we have to."

Zabuza turned back towards the group of five standing not more than twenty yards away. Not acknowledging the comment that Haku made.

"They're going to split up the group to fight us. I'll have to take Kakashi; he's way outside of your league. Most likely he'll send the two boys against you, they seem to be the close range fighters. Finally the girl would most likely stay back, she has a bow so you'll have to keep an eye out of arrows too."

Haku nodded her head showing she understood. Zabuza seeing the movement continued.

"Use it right away Haku, that blonde haired boy, he's not someone to trifle with. Do not let him use the hidden mist technique, the moment you lose sight of him, you will lose."

Haku stared at the boy across from her.

'I'm sorry Naruto…'

--

Kakashi drew a kunai and looked towards his team.

"Ok, GO!"

Both of the kids took off, straight at Haku. Naruto was able to run along side of Sakura without falling behind. Talking to her out the corner of his mouth he told her

"Ten more minutes and I should be back to normal. If we can keep safe till then, I'm sure we can win"

Sakura nodded her head.

"Ok, so for ten minutes we'll have to try to keep her at a distance. Once you can move at full speed, give me a signal and I'll back off to give you more room and I'll back you up from a distance."

Naruto nodded, they were almost at the target,

"Ok, so we play hit and run for the next ten minutes. Don't give her a chance to recover"

Kakashi took a moment before he took off to spare a glance at Sasuke,

"Stick to the plan Sasuke."

And he took off running, quickly passing his two students and making a beeline straight towards Zabuza. Naruto spared him a glance when he heard the tell tale sound of Zabuza's sword sweeping through the air, but he had to have some faith in Kakashi's skill. If he lost right away this time, they were dead.

Swinging his head back forwards, he spotted the hunter in front of them suddenly jump backwards throwing several senbons needles towards him and his partner. Following their training the two split ways so that they would not make an easy target for the hunter-nin's senbons needles.

Naruto drew a few of his older throwing knives that he still kept on the inside of his cloak and placed two into each hand. The biggest problem that he had is that he only carried ten throwing knives, his six fighting knives that Yamato had given him and his scythe. He knew Sakura carried only ten kunai knives and maybe twenty or so shuriken. Her real abilities lied in her archery abilities, but since Kakashi placed her on the back lines, that really made no difference now.

Seeing an opening he let one of the blades in his left hand fly straight towards his targets torso. While at the same time Sakura let a pair of shuriken go straight towards the masked hunter.

The hunter ducked down and kicked back, avoiding all three of the flying blades, but now that she was on the defense it gave Sakura and Naruto an advantage. As long as they could keep her moving, she would be less likely to retaliate.

Naruto, seeing a window of opportunity made the hand sign for Kirigakure no jutsu to cover his movements. Pushing chakra into the technique, he was confused when the air started clearing. Sakura apparently saw his confusion, taking a moment to throw another shuriken at the enemy she turned towards Naruto calling out,

"What's wrong Naruto? Are you somehow clearing this mist?"

Naruto shook his head and called back, while simultaneously letting another one of his knives go flying towards their target.

"No. The water in the air isn't responding properly. No matter how much chakra I put into it the energy won't evaporate."

Sakura looked troubled, if Naruto wasn't able to cover his tracks, they lost yet another significant advantage. Trying to figure out how to change their luck Sakura called back.

What about that other mist technique that you were working on?"

Naruto shook his head and grabbed already thrown shuriken off the cement of the bridge and threw it at the target before responding,

"No good, I still need water to use that technique and it takes more chakra. So if I can't get the first to work, there is no way that anything else like it would work."

Sakura nodded while letting a kunai go flying before making a few hand signs and yelling,

"Kage Kunai no jutsu" The single kunai multiplied into around thirty knives all flying straight towards the hunter. While the kunai were in flight Naruto yelled over to her,

"Eight more minutes"

Turning their attention back towards the flying knives, Naruto was waiting for the hunter to try dodging to one side or the other, because as soon as she did, he a knife waiting for her. Right before the knives should of made contact with the hunter the heard a loud clinking noise and all but the original knife puffed out of existence.

Jumping back, Naruto was surprised to see a large block of ice standing in front of the hunter, which acted like a shield to protect her from harm. The ice seemed to be thin enough that they were able to see through it, that or the ninja was actually encased within the ice, which seemed highly improbable.

Naruto was completely unprepared to see the ice explode and go flying like a hundred little knives straight towards his teammate. Pushing his speed to the maximum he summoned his scythe to his hand and began spinning it to block as many of the small blades as he could. Only a few small shards wormed their way through his defenses, one grazed his left shoulder, but the rest passed by him, where one struck Sakura in her left shin. It was painful at the moment and may slow her down a little, but nothing too serious.

Realizing it was foolish to let his focus shift off of his target, he looked back towards the hunter and saw she was making hand signs for another attack. Naruto looked back and realized that if whatever attack she was sending went towards Sakura, she would be unable to block it or dodge. Which meant that he would have to stay directly in front of her. The hunter now had the advantage again.

--

Haku was making hand signs as quickly as she possibly could. She knew that Naruto would most likely make this fight difficult, but watching him, she could see that his movements were still slower and slower to react than usual, so her sedatives must still be in his system, but he was recovering fast. Reaching the last sign in this particular sequence she almost let out an audible sigh of happiness. Naruto must of figured that this technique would be similar to the previous one I he was standing his ground without moving.

"Makyo Hyo Sho (Demonic Ice Mirrors)" Seeing her ice mirrors form in front of her, and around Naruto and his friend she stepped into them. At least now they were contained, with any luck she could still make it out of here without having to kill him.

--

Naruto was utterly confused, the hunter had finished making her signs, and he was ready to block or dodge anything, but all that happened was a large pane of glass like ice formed in front of him. Looking around him he could see similar panels all around him, glancing up he saw a few above him too. And they all had a hunter in them…

"Shit Sakura, we just got trapped…"

Sakura who was now backing up after getting the ice like knife removed looked around her and inspected the mirrors.

"Well that would explain why you couldn't use your mist techniques"

Naruto was about to comment on that, but it seemed that the hunter was interested in entering this conversation.

In a voice that was slightly lower and harsher from how Haku normally spoke, she butted into the conversation.

"You are correct shinobi-san, I control all water almost absolutely so there is no chance that your friends mist like techniques could possible work against me. If anything his trying to call up a mist aided me by gathering more water that I could easily used."

Naruto frowned, if he had just left things alone that ninja would have had a harder time getting those mirrors, but he foolishly kept pushing more chakra into a technique that wasn't working.

Glancing at his watch, he made a mental note and made a few hand signals towards his teammate.

'6 more minutes, try to keep her talking'

Sakura twitched her hand in response, agreeing with what he said and quickly addressing the hunter.

"Why are you helping a demon like Zabuza, He's trying to kill a perfectly good man that is trying to fight against Gato"

The hunter just hung her head a little responding,

"Why I am helping Zabuza and why we are doing this are two entirely different reasons. Suffice to say I help Zabuza because he has done more for me than any other person ever has. But this mission is just one of necessity, we need money, and Gato has plenty. Unlike ninja from a village, we cannot be picky about what we agree to do."

Naruto nodded, he had heard many other missing or roaming ninja that he met traveling express the same sentiments. Not being from a ninja, work didn't come every day, so when something came their way, they had to take it.

Naruto seeing a possible answer to their problem called out to her,

"You could always join Konoha you know? I know the Hokage and anyone with your talents would be welcomed"

Surprisingly the hunter laughed at the offer.

"Why would I want to join a den of snakes? That village is doomed and they don't even see it. They crossed the precipice of no return the day they started damning children."

Naruto grimaced, that idea was shot and he still had to find a way to burn a few more minutes. Sakura had apparently also seen the problem and was attempting to think of something else to stall the time before the hunter broke the silence.

"Enough stalling, I have a job to finish. I haven't failed a job in seven years and I refuse to start failing now."

Bringing his scythe around as quickly as possible, Naruto threw the bladed weapon with all his considerable strength at the mirror directly in front of him. The weapon imbedded itself several inches into the ice before it finally came to a stop. The hunter-nin in that mirror stuck its head out and inspected the weapon in shock.

--

Haku couldn't believe what just happened. Even Zabuza had never pierced her ice mirrors before; in fact most weapons broke if they hit the ice as hard as that scythe just did. She was even more surprised that when she went to touch the scythe, it just puffed right out of existence.

Looking back down at the two young ninjas trapped in her ice, she couldn't help but wonder,

'What are you hiding Naruto-kun?'

--

2 days travel away in Konoha the old Hokage was shuffling his way back towards his office, as the sun was almost ready to rice over the top of the monument. Looking up at his office he was surprised to see the light already on, with a somewhat familiar looking young man standing at the window looking out.

'Damn… and it was going to be suck a lovely day too…'

Taking a leisurely stroll up the stairs to his office, he walked through the already opened door and sat down at his desk listening to the music that was playing from another black box. Waiting started paying attention to the music, it had a simple background of what he believed to be primarily violins, but a man was singing loudly over all them. He could not tell exactly what the man was singing about, but given his passion and tone, he loved it very much. The 'opera' as Itachi or Orpheo as he called himself had called it years ago dipped quietly and then rose to a moving and powerful ending, complete with a full symphony. It was cut off rather abruptly after the peak by Orpheo pressing a button on the box.

"What was the name of that piece Orpheo? I admit it was quiet moving."

Itachi smiled at the old man,

"You may call me Itachi if you wish to Hokage-sama. I understand that it must be a little confusing for you. The song that you just heard is named Nessun Dorma written by Puccini who started writing in 1920 and finished in 1924. He named the entire opera Turandot, but that aria is the most famous piece in it. He spent years trying to figure out how to finish his last few parts of the duet, but never did. So I offered him my help, and wrote the last few lines about a story that only the ancients, Titus and an old Taoist monk know of. It translates to something like this in your language

Nobody shall sleep!...

Nobody shall sleep!

Even you, o Princess,

In your cold room,

Watch the stars,

That tremble with love and with hope.

But my secret is hidden within me,

My name no one shall know...

No!...No!...

On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.

And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...

(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)

Vanish, o night!

Set, stars! Set, stars!

At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!"

The old man looked at the older, yet obviously younger man sitting across from him.

"I doubt you came here just to share some random trivia about an old song with me. I assume there is something of greater importance?"

Itachi just smiled as he pocketed the black box.

"Of course, I have come to tell you that you have been betrayed…"

Several hours later a shocked and rather confused Hokage sat back with a lit pipe staring in disbelief at the man across from him.

"So there is nothing I can do?"

The man just shook his head solemnly,

"There was nothing any of us could do. Konoha sat alone on a precipice of absolute power for so long that inevitably your own government became corrupt, and they managed to keep you out of the loop."

The old man rested his head in his hands as Itachi placed yet another black box on his desk.

"I'm afraid I have to meet up with my associate, Leporello so I leave you with another gift. Requiem Mass in D Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart written in 1791, better known as 'Lacrimosa' or weeping."

Finished with what he came to do, Orpheo stood up and walked out the office door. Right past the two Anbu guards who never even acknowledged his existence.

Sarutobi sat dead silent staring at the box right in front of him. Listening to the sad song. He set down his pipe and stared dejectedly outside of his window.

"I may not be able to win this fight to come, but I can at least make sure that they do not either."

As he stared out the window, his assistant poked her head in and said quietly,

"Hokage-sama, your advisors and Danzo are here to see you, should I let them in?"

Pulling his hat down over his eyes, he stooped to pick up the pipe,

"Yes, feel free to let them in a moment. Give me just a minute to clean up here"

The secretary nodded,

"As you wish Hokage-sama"

Sitting down he poured a glass of water and collected himself. It was time for him to start playing the game again. The first thing he had to do, was see who was still on his team…

-

Zabuza stared at Kakashi who had only taken a couple of minor cuts here and there.

"You seem to be more focused this time around Kakashi?"

Kakashi just eye smiled,

"Of course, that's because I'm actually fighting this time around."

Zabuza raised a non-existent eyebrow,

"And why would you not take a fight with me seriously?"

Kakashi smiled at his enemy,

"Sometimes you have to throw a fight to win the war Zabuza"

Zabuza pondered what his enemy said for a minute before rushing forward with his large sword for another skirmish. His long blade was handy for attacking large groups, but it made individuals a little more difficult, especially ones as slippery as Kakashi was. Forcing the masked man back, he took a gamble and swung a leg around for a kick. Unfortunately Kakashi's eye made his taijutsu absolutely useless. Jumping back the eyed his opponent warily.

"What do you say we take this up a notch Kakashi?"

With that he made a single hand sign and the mist thickened even more to the point that it was impossible to see more than a foot in any direction.

Sighing, Kakashi dropped into a ready stance and closed his sharingan eye.

'No point in wasting chakra' he told himself.

--

Naruto and Sakura had spent the last several minutes doing their best to avoid as many of the needles as possible. They had long ago both abandoned all their weights in hoped for being able to dodge better, but it didn't make much of a difference.

"Its like she attacks from everywhere at once… I don't know how to counter this"

Naruto groaned as he pulled another needle from his arm. His fast healing at least allowed the wounds to close in a matter of seconds once the needles were removed, but they still hurt. He didn't even want to think what Sakura was going through.

"If we can hold out for another two minutes I have a technique that may get us out of here, but I need to have my full speed and chakra control to do it."

Turning to face Sakura, he saw in slow motion as a pair of heavy senbon needles into Sakura's neck. She sat stunned for a moment, before light faded from her eyes and she fell silently towards the ground.

Rushing to her side, Naruto managed to catch her just before she impacted the ground. He sat shocked staring at his sole friend's lifeless body.

"Sakura-chan?" He asked weakly "Sakura-chan you need to stand up"

Haku stared at the sad sight, her heart breaking in two.

"I'm sorry for your loss. She was a good fighter. She stood by your side even though she knew it wasn't the smartest thing to do. Friends like that are rare in this world. I will always remember her, you said her name was Sakura?"

Naruto was shaking with rage, he felt power surge through his veins, he looked up fully intending to rip his enemy to pieces with his bare hands, but then the world went black.

--

Naruto found himself staring at a familiar black door, reaching forward he grabbed the handle and ripped the door open, coming face to face with the seal of the Kyuubi that he remembered seeing as a child. Walking up to the seal he could see red spots appearing on the large blue ball as the force within fought for dominance, he was about to try to pull more of that power out to kill the hunter when a voice behind him suddenly spoke.

"Now we can't do to have that old fox escaping now can we?"

A bright like of blue chakra flew past him and connected to the sphere, pushing the red tainted chakra back to the core, where it was once again overtaken by the blue chakra that swirled around inside of the sphere.

Naruto spun around to see a familiar black cloak; he had seen it in his dreams before. The man stood at least six and half feet tall, with long pin straight silvery hair and silvery blue eyes staring down at him.

"So you are the newest ancient?"

Naruto stared dumbfounded, he had been in many different dreams and such during the past few years, but there was never anyone else in the dreams with him. This was completely unprecedented.

"Who are you?" He asked rather timidly

The taller man smiled at him,

"You make call me Amarius I suppose and you and I will be getting to know one another very well. But right now, I believe your best friend just died."

--

As Naruto's eyes reopened he could see chakra swirling around him in a vortex.

'Blue' he thought to himself in amusement as he watched the energy swirl past him. Setting down his friend carefully, he slowly removed all the needles from her body that he could see and closed her eyes.

Standing up, he faced the mirror that he originally stuck his scythe into. He spoke in a cold articulate manner to make sure that his enemy heard him clearly.

"You killed my friend hunter. So now I will kill you. Equivalent exchange"

Haku shuddered in her mirror, that wasn't Naruto's normal warm voice. This once promised pain and death.

Naruto began focusing more of his chakra into his hands as he began talking again.

"Congratulations Hunter, I had intended to show my newest technique to Sakura when I put the final touches on is, but it seems I have a use for it today. Your shields barely stopped my scythe, am I correct? So I wonder how they will stand up to this?"

Hearing the bold statement from Naruto, Haku pushed as much of her energy into maintaining her mirrors as she could. At this level the could easily withstand A-rank fire jutsus, she could only hope that Naruto was bluffing.

Naruto swung his arms around while yelling his newest technique

"Ninpo: Juu Kenbue no jutsu"(Ten Swords Dance) as he yelled that, ten perfect strands of chakra flew from his hands and met Haku's mirrors. The mirrors resisted for a moment, before the long string like blades cleaved through the ice as a hot knife would through butter.

Fleeing from her mirror that was being cut into five pieces by the string in Naruto's left she took haven in a mirror behind him, still trying to put her mirror together, but to no avail. Naruto's blades continually cleaved through them.

Seeing a string suddenly impact her mirror, she tried to jump out, only to be caught around the waist by one of Naruto's strings.

"I found you!" Screamed Naruto is a cold tell tale voice. Wrapping several other strings around her, he yanked hard.

Haku, seeing him pull on the strings expected to be cleaved into pieces just like her mirrors, but it seemed that Naruto had a different plan. She felt a strong tug around both her arms and waist and three strings yanked her hard straight towards Naruto. He pulled back his other hand, while simultaneously wrapping her legs and all her extremities together so there was o chance of escape. As she drew close he threw his right arm as hard as possible and crudely punched her in the face, shattering the porcelain mask and throwing her right through the mirror he just pulled her free of.

Haku impacted the mirror and felt several of her ribs break on contact with the hard ice. Skidding across the ground till she finally rolled to stop she groaned. She had lost several fights in her life, mostly to Zabuza during training, but she had never been beat to such a degree. She knew now that her life was forfeit. Feeling her body being pulled back upright into a standing position raising her head, she looked up to face the man who was about to kill her.

Naruto was rushing forward, his scythe already summoned in his hands, fully intending to end the fight with this blow. When he was feet from the hunter he saw her raise her head just as he was about to bring the scythe around and end the hunters knife. Seeing the hunter's face he stopped, only a foot away and dropped his scythe.

"Haku?…"

--

Kakashi was dancing around Zabuza's large sword, gracefully twirling around to avoid the blade, while simultaneously throwing kunai and small jutsus at him. As he was in mid swing he felt a huge power surge behind him that felt absolutely horrifying. Zabuza couldn't help but thing,

'And the demon rises'

Apparently though the disturbance was enough to cause Kakashi glance to the side, missing the sword that took a long relatively deep slice into his left triceps, jumping back he applied pressure to the wound.

Within moments the dark energy completely evaporated, but a new, equally powerful being took its place. Both fighters looked over at the mirrors of ice that Haku had formed a little while back in shock as long blue rope like blades suddenly protruded from the ice and began slicing them into pieces.

Kakashi turned back to face Zabuza, and strategically placed himself in between Zabuza and the mirrors. Not too far behind Kakashi were Sasuke and Tazuna.

'Perfect' was all that went through Kakashi's mind as he regained Zabuza's attention.

"Its time to end this fight Zabuza, you've fulfilled your purpose, so now its time for you to die."

Zabuza was about to reply when he saw Kakashi fly through hand signs far faster than he had for any previous techniques and yelled,

"Kuchiyose: Tsuiga no Jutsu" five large dogs flew out of the ground and bit deep into Zabuza's arms and legs effectively holding them in place. Kakashi began running through a few more hand signs before grabbing his right wrist in his left hand and pumping a ridiculous amount of chakra into it. He yelled back to Sasuke

"Now Sasuke!" Looking back towards Zabuza he yelled out "Raikiri (Lightning edge, and honestly if you don't know this one…)

A huge ball of lighting crackled alive in Kakashi's hand. Zabuza had heard of this technique, it was said to be an ultimate assassination technique, only the fourth Hokage had ever beaten it. Bracing himself for death he was surprised when he saw Kakashi spin on his heel and race towards Haku who he could see being suspended up by Naruto's strings, as they stood only a foot or two apart.

Zabuza was about to yell a warning to Haku when he saw another form drop into view, blocking Haku from view. Looking up he saw a child with deep red eyes glaring at him flying through hand seals. The child's black hair spread out in the wind from the chakra he was compressing in his mouth. Staring into the eyes of the child he almost laugh aloud.

"You look like a demon," he muttered as Sasuke yelled

"Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu!" and blew out a huge steady stream of fire poured down towards Zabuza.

Zabuza looked past the flames streaming towards him in a chance to see the small girl he had helped to raise one last time before he was sent to hell by this demon. Looking at her his heart almost stopped there. Kakashi was standing directly in front of her, a look of shock on her blood-covered face, as Kakashi callously threw her off the side of the bridge into the raging waters below

"I'm sorry Haku," he murmured as the hot flames engulfed him completely.

From a distance a tall figure in a black robe carrying a large wrapped object on his back spoke sadly as a mob approached behind him.

"And so passes Momochi Zabuza, Demon of Mists. Life was far too cruel to you my old friend." And the man disappeared in a blink of an eye. He couldn't stay too long; he still had more business to attend to that day.

--

Naruto was staring at the girl he had come to know so well who was standing across from him bound in his blades of energy.

"Why Haku-chan…"

Naruto sounded like he was on the verge of tears, as he likely was.

Haku had tears streaming down her face,

"I'm sorry Naruto, I really didn't want to. I tried to stall but I had to do something or Zabuza was going to die…"

Naruto stared directly into the girl's eyes as the strings slowly began to fade away.

"I can't kill you Haku-chan."

Haku was about to say something when she saw his sensei running at them from behind with his signature technique flaring alive in his right hand.

"You may not have to Naruto," She said with a small sad smile, knowing that Kakashi was about to kill her for him to save his pupil the experience

Closing her eyes she waited for death. Sure enough a second later she felt blood spray across her face. Opening her eyes she lost her breath, and if a few of Naruto's remaining strings hadn't been holding her up she surely would have fallen to her knees.

Naruto was standing in front of her, with Kakashi's arm sticking straight through his chest, where his lungs ought to have been. Kakashi yanked his arm back with a disgusting squelching noise and Naruto slumped forward into Haku's waiting arms.

Haku looked up and stared at Kakashi, she heard him say coldly,

"Your time is up demon. I tried time and time again to get you killed, I even tried to get you kicked out of the village, but you just wouldn't fucking die. But even you need lungs to breath"

He grabbed the back of Naruto's cloak, and since Haku was still tangled up in Naruto she came with as he threw them over the edge, and into the oceans waiting arms.

--

Sakura's eyes cracked open as she heard someone running past her. Last thing she remembered Naruto was talking to her, and suddenly everything when black. Looking back she could see Sasuke strike Tazuna, knocking him out and then running towards Zabuza as Kakashi sprinted towards Naruto and ran that ball of lightning right through his chest. Seeing this her eyes widened in shock, but given her already precarious health, she blacked out in shock falling back to the cold wet cement of the bridge.

Kakashi turned around and noted the burning corpse of Zabuza lying on the ground; his dogs had long since gone back to their domain. Smiling he walked back towards Tazuna and applied a minor healing jutsu to his head, quickly awakening him from his unconsciousness.

Tazuna sat up a little dazed,

"What happened?"

Kakashi, lying through his teeth filled him in.

"You got hit by a stray bit of ice from Naruto destroying those panels of ice. The hunter was about to kill him so I tried to get to him in time to save him, but I couldn't get there fast enough. I did manage to kill the hunter. Sasuke used a fire technique to kill Zabuza. Your bridge is saved"

Tazuna didn't know if he should smile or cry, his prized bridge was saved from the missing-nins but it had cost that boy his life.

Looking around he commented,

"Where's Sakura?"

Sasuke called out from behind them,

"She's over here, looks like the hunter knocked her unconscious."

Kakashi smiled,

"Well at least she made it out ok" But he was seething on the inside, 'That bitch wasn't supposed to of survived, now how am I going to get rid of her'

As the mist from Zabuza's techniques cleared Kakashi heard a chuckling come from the far end of the bridge. Standing at the end of the bridge with a short black walking stick was the mouse of a man that instigated this whole problem.

Gato smirked,

"Well you ninjas made my life easy, you not only killed my missing-nins but you're so worn out that you won't be able to beat my mercenaries"

Kakashi grimaced, he knew that Gato was right, but if they fled then they also failed the mission. Standing up trying to think of a plan he saw the large amount of people amassing not far behind him, but still sufficiently out of view from Gato and his thugs.

Kakashi smirked; he had won the battle, now it was time to win their hearts.

"Gato you bastard! You killed my student, terrorized thousands and destroyed this countries hope! I'm going to kill you myself!" With his sharingan active, he drew a kunai and made a mad dash towards Gato. He was too tired to fight all of those thugs, but if he could kill the ringleader, he was sure the town would take care of the rest. As he drew near he reversed his grip on his knife and cleanly cut through Gato's neck, spraying blood everywhere as Gato struggled to breath through his severed windpipe. As Gato fell to his knees, Kakashi ran back to the relative safety of Sasuke and Tazuna. At least there the thugs had to run to meet him.

Sure enough the thugs began yelling some nonsense about meal tickets and pay. Kakashi almost laughed at how easily he had just manipulated the entire group into doing what he wanted them too. As the group began forwards a single dart from a cross bow impacted in front of their new leader. Seeing the dart he stopped and then noticed the large group standing right behind Kakashi.

Kakashi laughed, as he whispered over to Sasuke who had watched the entire proceedings with enrapt attention.

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers"

Sasuke laughed a little as the town and thugs yelled back and forth before all the thugs ran back to their boats. Sure enough the moment they were gone, the villagers, praising their bravery and selflessness, swamped the four still standing. Kakashi smiled, he had rid himself of a demon child nuisance and he was even more famous because of it.

--

Several days later the group of ninja stood at the end of the now finish bridge, soberly staring at the plaque in front of them that honored the shinobi of Konoha for what they had done. It read,

_One man and three children defended a country that was not theirs, in a battle that they did not star for a home that they never lived in. They will forever live on in our hearts and conscious._

It had a nice brass statue of the 4 standing there; Kakashi had helped in the design so he and Sasuke stood the tallest and proudest, while Naruto looked almost evil.

As they were about to leave the bridge he noted that Sakura, Inari, Tsunami and Tazuna were all crying rather hard. He called out to the sole girl of his team.

"Come on Sakura, we need to go"

Sakura nodded her head and obeyed her sensei she didn't have a choice.

As the group made their way across the bridge, the villagers started talking about what to name the bridge. There was a great uproar to name it "The Great Kakashi Bridge" but Tazuna had oddly put his foot down, refusing to name it that. After arguing it should be named after Naruto who was a martyr for the bridge the finally compromised.

It would be called Yusha no Hashi (Bridge of heroes) to honor all those who fought for this bridge.

--

Several miles away on a small island to the south a large man was sitting next to a warm fire caring for a pair of wounded children. One of them sat up and looked around slightly panicked,

"Where am I?" he half yelled.

The large man eased him back down on the blankets while saying softly.

"Be calm Naruto, my name is Leporello, and I am going to keep you and Haku safe until you recover. So just rest easily for now."

Naruto mumbled something about a big fish man before he allowed himself to be laid down on the warm blanket.

Leporello looked out over the surrounding ocean. He could just make out the large bridge in the distance. He couldn't help but wonder.

"What's taking you so long Orpheo?"

A small laugh from behind him,

"Well there was a western symphony playing Adagio for Strings and Organ in G Minor in Tanzaku, I just couldn't pass it up"

Leporello shook his head looking at his friend,

"Your damn obsession with music is going to get you killed some day Orpheo.."

--

Ok I sincerely apologize for taking so long to get this out. I started writing it like five times but it never seemed to work the way I wanted it too. Then I got caught up with school, finals, a National Planning Meeting for a scout thing and the next thing I knew it was January and I hadn't finished the chapter. I hope I still have some readers out there. I know the story wasn't that popular when I was putting out chapters steadily, but hopefully someone is still reading. So I hope you liked it and please for the love of all that is holy review.

A few people have commented about my take on Kakashi. So I figured that I would just give a short explanation of him. More or less Kakashi has become used to fame and power and he has no qualms about using what he has to get what he wants, such as trying to get Naruto killed. He is always out to get more power, which is why he was scheming with Sasuke, but you will see eventually that he isn't quite what he appears to be.

Leporello is obviously Kisame, if you search the name on google you can read about where I picked up that name. It comes from a lesser-known opera of Mozart's called Don Giovanni, which I mentioned in an earlier chapter. More or less Leporello follows around Don Giovanni and always has to try to keep the Don out of all the trouble he gets into.

I do not own Naruto, Nessun Dorma, Don Giovanni, Lacrimosa, or anything else that I mentioned in here. However I would encourage you to give them a listen I know Evanescence recently did a piece based off of Lacrimosa.

Well till next time, I hope you enjoyed and that you give me at least a few reviews.

Mechen Manachewagan


	8. Chapter 8 The Calm Before the Storm

Kakashi sat seemingly alone in a dark room, somewhere in the long forgotten bowels of Konoha. After waiting in silence for several minutes, he finally heard the voice he had been waiting for.

"You disposed of the demon then?"

Kakashi dropped to one knee, in a sign of fealty to the man who he was certain was standing in front of him.

"Of course Lord. I enlisted the help of the last true scion of the Uchiha to finish the job without suspicion. I believe the Wave country is also now indebted to our cause."

The voice chuckled a little,

"Good, they may prove useful to us in the future." Pausing for a second, he seemed to be waiting for something. After several rather tense moments he finally continued. "So did you or did you not bring what I asked for"

Kakashi jumped up,

"I'm sorry my lord, I forgot myself for a moment." Reaching behind him, he grabbed the pack that once belonged to Naruto. Rummaging through the pockets, he grimaced. The shrouded one sensing his dismay called out.

"They aren't there, are they Kakashi"

Kakashi frowned,

"I'm sorry lord, but it appears as if Naruto was carrying those rings with him when he died."

The voice in dark let sneered in contempt.

"You have failed me Kakashi, I would not recommend that you repeat this offence."

Kakashi kowtowed, placing his forehead to the ground.

"I am sorry master, it will never happen again"

"See that it doesn't" was the only reply from the hidden voice.

"So what will you have me do know?" Kakashi asked, even though he knew the general answer.

"You will wait, and train the scion as you have been. The next phase of the resurrection will occur during the Chuunin exams that your country has agreed to host."

Kakashi repeated the kowtow, "It shall be done master"

Sensing that the man had left, Kakashi slowly stood up, drawing a deep and rather shaky breath he tried to calm himself.

The last person who failed his lord was found eviscerated laying face down in his own bedroom.

Kakashi scowled at the shameful memory,

'I will not meet the same fate as my Father."

--

Many miles away in a small country bordering Hi no Kuni, another similar meeting was taking place, deep in the bowels of a God forsaken laboratory.

"I trust that the last two decades of work will come to fruition soon…" The voice was as shrouded as the man standing in the darkness, but his presence was undeniable. It screamed of power, a power that no mortal would dare to cross.

Dropping to on knee, the man who was in front of this dark lord bowed his head,

"It's almost ready Lord. I have finished the final formulas and now all I need to do is apply it. I should have it finished in just a few days."

He knew his lord wanted it to be completed by now, but hopefully he would see fit to keep him alive for a short while longer.

"You are running short on time, for your sake I hope that you do complete the array soon."

Still keeping his head down,

"Of course Master, I have completed the portions that increase chakra output, subjugates the wearer will, and the hardest part, the part that allows for forced entry. All that I need to do it put the finishing touches on my ability to implant the array. I have and idea, and it should work, it just remains untested. A new batch of villagers should be arriving within the hour, then I will have plenty of test subjects."

The voice in the shadows seemed pleased, the energy coming off of it was astounding,

"Good, have it prepared by the end of the month. Then you are to bring it to Konoha. It is there that we will proceed with the next step of the process."

The man on the ground sounded a little confused by the order,

"In a month sir? The chuunin exams are to be hosted around that time are they not?"

The man waited for a reply, but never received one. Looking up he examined the room he was in now that the light had returned to it. Sensing he was once again alone, he turned and walked out the door behind him while yelling,

"Kabuto! Where are those villagers, the cursed seal must be completed"

--

Sakura was sitting alone in a small patch of woods, not far from the academy, staring rather forlorn at an old willow tree that was slowly dropping its leaves in the cool fall winds that were encroaching on the land of fire. The cool nights wouldn't get much worse than they did now throughout the winter. There was enough geothermal energy being released by the earth around the country to keep it warm, however the old trees still dropped their leaves every fall, as if for once winter was actually coming to the land.

High up in the tree she could see the two hammocks still swaying gently in the breeze. Various items still tied to branches, turning the large branches into a home.

Sighing she picked herself up and began walking towards the training ground where she was supposed to be meeting Yamato and a friend of his to train and talk for a little while.

Wiping the tears that had started forming around her eyes, she began walking towards the ground, only to trip on a piece of wood littering the ground, from where Yamato's house stood during their training. As she reached out to catch herself the came face to face with a small bush of delicate orange flowers growing all over the small clearing.

Pushing herself up onto her knees she gently cradled one of the many flowers with her hand. Smiling, despite the tears that were threatening to fall from her face. She stared at the flower before talking to herself,

"Naruto's Tea Roses"

A voice behind her startled her out of her reverie,

"Do you know the name of that rose Sakura?"

Turning around she was astounded to see both Yamato and the Hokage standing behind her. She jumped to her feet and tried to make herself look presentable. She had not expected to be meeting with the leader of her village that evening. As she was trying to dry the tears in her eyes, Yamato began talking again.

"It took me a while to find the name. Even the renowned Yamanaka flower shop did not know their name. Finally I found the flower in a small shop in the south of fire country. An old lady who lived alone grew them. Apparently at some time in his travel Naruto met up with her and lived with her for a good deal of time. When it came time to leave he made that hybrid tea rose for her. He named it, "Remember Me" (As always the flower does actually exist. Just Google it).

Sakura turned back towards the flowers staring at them, with tears now streaming steadily down her face.

"But the roses are orange… I never saw him wear anything besides black. He had black shirts, pants, sock, vest, even his cloak was black."

The old Hokage chuckled a little at the girl's outburst,

"Sakura, many years ago that same black wearing boy paraded around town in a bright orange jacket. Orange was always his favorite color, but when your life depended on remaining unseen, he had to change. I have no doubt that he still wears orange boxers"

Sakura found herself laughing at the idea of her enigmatic friend running around in a bright pair of orange boxers. Although the laughter slowly broke away, and the poor girl started sobbing.

She was startled when she felt a strong pair of wiry limbs wrap around her torso offering her comfort and rubbing her back gently. Looking up she was surprised to see that the old Hokage had embraced her trying to console her in her misery. Even more surprising was that a lone tear was making its way down the old mans face.

"Sakura, you need to come with Yamato and myself we have much to discuss, and I'm afraid that time is not with us. If we do not act fast, I'm afraid that we will not have time to act at all"

Sakura was a little confused by what the man was talking about, but slowly nodded her head.

"Something is happening here in Konoha Sakura, I can't prove what, but with your help, I may be able to prevent some of it. Unfortunately it seems as though your Sensei and several of the members of the council have at sometime become our enemies. I need your help Sakura"

Sakura looked up at the old man with determination burning in her eyes,

"What do you need of me Hokage-sama"

The old man grimaced at the young girls determination,

"There will come a time, years from now, when you will be needed. It is highly unlikely that either Yamato or I will be alive, but when the moment comes, you will know, and you must act. I am sorry to say that I cannot tell you the details, not because I don't want to, but because I do not know them. A great and ancient evil is falling across the land Sakura, and if we want to stand a chance, we will need someone on the inside."

Sakura stared at the Hokage for a second in disbelief, he was asking her, to stay by the enemy's side. Tears dripping down her face again, she looked towards the old man, her eyes silently pleading him as she spoke,

"How can you ask me to stay by there sides? I'm sure that you know what happened to Naruto-kun. They murdered him, in front of my eyes!" Her voice was sounding more and more distraught as she continued. "They killed him, and I could do nothing! He depended on me! I was supposed to watch his back!"

Sakura fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself, desperately trying to seek comfort where there was none to be had.

The Hokage silently took off his hat and knelt down next to the inconsolable child.

"Unfortunately that is the reason that I am asking you to do this and no one else. You will never forget who you are, despite what ever they will tell you in the future, because you know that beneath their shining faces are cold-hearted men who only seek to further themselves. You once had a crush on the Uchiha did you not? Using that for a cover you can stay close to them, without even having to change how you acted."

The old man stood up, his eyes as sharp as steel as he reached into beneath his robe and withdrew a black ninjato, and dropped it next to the girl.

"The swords name is Joshin no Chinoumi, which mean the Goddess of the Sea of Blood, which is what we need you to become Sakura. We need you to become one of them, fight for them, but never forget the tenth of October, when your greatest friend, was born and died."

As he began walking away Sakura choked out,

"But they'll know, I'm too obvious"

The old man never broke stride as he answered,

"The best place to hide something, is right out in the open, Sakura"

--

Leporello sat quietly beside the fire, dutifully watching over the two young teenagers in front of him. The moon was waning, slowly disappearing from the sky. His two young charges had been asleep for most of the day. The girl, Haku had awoken in the morning and stayed with the boy for most of the day, before finally falling asleep by his side. The girl of course had recognized him immediately; his face was not easily forgotten in the ninja world. Turning to his ever-troublesome companion he broke the late night silence.

"Do you think that the boy will wake back up? I'm not sure that even Amarius can have a lung and half blown away and live to tell about it"

Orpheo looked over towards the sleeping teen,

"He will awake when he is ready. The damage to his lungs has long since been healed. I suspect his absence to this world has more to do with Amarius than it does anything else"

Leporello looked over at his compatriot,

"You think Amarius will actually be able to do it this time?"

Orpheo sighed,

"Its hard to tell really. Its seems as though we have a head start on Titus this time, but its strange that we haven't heard anything from him yet. Amarius and Titus normally return at around the same time"

Leporello stared at the fire,

"Years ago I was talking to a physicist when he brought up a question that was more philosophical than true physics, but it always reminds me of the battles between Amarius and Titus."

Orpheo looked over to his teammate,

'Oh and what's the question?"

"What happens when an unstoppable force, meets an immoveable object?"

Orpheo nodded

"A most confusing subject to be sure, however I'm not sure that particular concept it actually possible. I honestly do not believe that there is any truly unstoppable forces or immovable objects. The kyuubi was said to unstoppable in the demon realm, but Titus found a way to twist it to his own needs, and now Naruto has the fox imprisoned in him by a seal that the fourth Hokage designed. So that would make it at least 3 times that an unstoppable force was stopped"

Leporello lay down on the ground apparently getting ready to get some well-deserved rest.

"Maybe your right. I hope you are at least, because I grow tired of this plight."

Orpheo smirked,

"I would be tired of it too if I was dying all the time, your on what your third life now Leporello?"

Leporello scowled,

"Even you died once Orpheo, the lines on your face are as much a reminder to you as mine are to me"

Orpheo reached up and brushed the lines that were under his eyes, while simultaneously glancing at Leporello and Naruto.

"By the looks of it, Amarius has died 3 times now as well."

Leporello looked over at his partner,

"Yeah so what about it?"

"Well isn't he supposed to be the second coming of Amarius? How is he only the second coming if he's died 3 times?"

Leporello rolled back over,

"You have a lot to learn still Orpheo, Amarius is old enough to make me look like an infant. No one, besides maybe Titus and that old monk, really knows how old the two of them really are. For all we know he could be the fourth Amarius. He's just the second since the formation of The Ancients"

Orpheo laid down into his sleeping bag,

"Hey Leporello, are there ever days that you regret the decision to become Leporello and wish that you were still just Kisame?"

There was a long pause before he heard a quiet response,

"Yeah, but if I didn't it just would have been someone else. It's best not to dwell on it Itachi."

"I suppose your right" With that the pair left the rest to silence as the both settled down for the night and let sleep take them"

--

Naruto was still sitting in the room that contained the seal to the kyuubi talking to the man named Amarius.

"So explain to me again how you ended up in here with the Kyuubi?"

Amarius palmed his face,

"Ok, Ancients do die, but the afterlife won't accept them, so they are sent back. Once we return we find a human spirit and merge with it. So in essence they will become the next Amarius"

Naruto eyed the man,

"So what you're going to take over my body? Because, nothing personal but that's not going to happen"

The tall man with silver hair sat down on a chair that materialized out of nowhere,

"I'm not a ghost that tries to possess you while you're asleep… What happens is that in your childhood something happens that draws our spirits together, then at thirteen we begin merging, until finally at seventeen the merger is complete and you gain all the power of the past Amarius, however you also unfortunately inherit the battle with Titus"

Naruto stared at the man, still looking a little confused,

"Ok so more or less you live inside of me, our spirits are merging, and I'm in the middle of some battle with another guy like you named Titus"

The taller man shrugged and nodded his head,

"Yeah that's pretty much it actually"

Naruto pointed a thumb out over his shoulder at the giant blue sphere behind him,

"So where does the big fuzz ball come into play here. I get that the Yondaime sealed him into me, but with everything else going on I'm assuming that this wasn't an accident."

Amarius spared a glance at the 'big fuzz ball' as Naruto had so eloquently put it. "Well in all honesty it is quite possible that it was merely a series of random events that led to that particular demon being stuck into you. But, if you ask me I would say that someone was trying to level the playing field."

Naruto stared at the man,

"Level the playing field?"

Amarius shifted his attention over to his new young apprentice,

"The war you are entering has been going on for longer than your worlds history can remember. Due to a… falling out… Titus and I have been battling for control for a very long time. Due to the circumstances that brought us to war though, we were created as polar opposites of one another in terms of ability, I have complete control, and he has the power. That 'He points to the seal' demon however holds a great source of power that is slowly but surely becoming yours to wield, so by the time the process is complete, you will have my control and skill, with that demons power."

Naruto stared wide-eyed at the large seal,

"So Titus is the bad guy right? He did something evil?"

Titus laughed,

"I would of thought that by this point in your life that you would of realized that there is no set parameters to determine what is good an evil." The tall man stood up and met Naruto's stare, "We will have more time for this discussion later, now we need to begin your training…"

--

Sasuke lay tossing and turning in his sleep, a new nightmare was worming its way into his psyche,

-Inside His Dreams-

Sasuke sat alone in a barren wasteland; the ground was hard with cracks forming in the dry cold that was creeping in after the sun had sunk well beyond the rims of the horizon. Around him there was a single grave, with a wooden cross that was haphazardly lashed together. A tall lean man was with wearing a dull black trench coat stood in front of him facing the small unnamed grave. Long black hair cascaded over the mans shoulders and reached towards the small of his back. A silver sheathed sword rested on his hip, the style seemed to be similar to the western rapier, elegant and deadly.

The man slowly bent at his knees and took a handful of the soil into his pale hand, letting the individual grains run through his fingers and return to the barren earth.

"What fools these mortals be…" muttered the man.

"You say something?"

Sasuke spun around; he hadn't sensed another person when he first awoke in this wasteland.

The man standing behind him was taller than the man in front of him, wearing a long black cloak, the hem resting lightly on the dry soil beneath. A large scythe rested on the mans back, His face was as pale as the skin of the other mans, but his hair was a silvery color in contrast to the other man's black color.

"These mortals are fools, they are given his love, his protection, and all they have to do is embrace it, and they are forgiven. Free will is theirs to have, but their own greed blinds them. All they have to do is ask for his forgiveness and all is forgotten, no other species in the universal can claim that power, and yet the forsake it."

The black haired man never turned to face the silver one behind him as he spoke. There was a tension in the air that was almost palpable.

"That is why he sent us here though isn't it, we're trying to remove the infection before it spreads"

The silver haired man spoke kindly, trying to reach out to the black haired on in front of him.

"We both know its not working, we've been here for half a millennia and nothing has changed. It will never change, these creatures will never learn, they will kill and rape until their wicked plague has engulfed the planet, and then there will be nothing remaining. Then in their dying moments, God will have us erase his work and save a few, and restart the process until he once again calls on us to retard the evils growth. It is a never ending cycle"

Finishing his sentence the black haired man turned around, and stared at the other,

"Come with me Amaranth, we can stop this together, we will succeed where he has failed. Together none can stand in our wake, my power and your ancient wisdom and we will rule forever."

The silver haired mans eyes clouded over, as if he were fighting some inside quarrel,

"You have fallen from grace haven't you Mephistopheles?"

Mephistopheles burst into laughter,

"Grace! What grace? We are tools to his whims. We have been around since the dawn of time and all we do is destroy his work when it grows out of his control. We have no more grace than a thief on the streets."

Mephistopheles turned back around facing the grave.

"Today I was told to destroy this city, and I did, but in doing so, I felt something Amaranth, something I had never felt before in my entire existence… I felt remorse for what I had done. I destroyed innocent children on his mere whim. I am tired of being a tool for his petty desires to create a world that cannot exist."

Amaranth looked over his long time friend and companion,

"If you have fallen Mephistopheles, he will come after you, he will send me after you"

Mephistopheles turned around,

"Which is why if we stand together, nothing will stop us. These wretched humans don't deserve everything that they have, their freedom of choice, when was the last time you ever got to make your own decision Amaranth? Yet they get that freedom every year, no other being in the universe can make such a claim, yet they above all, are the darkest beings I have ever had to kill. So I am going to take it away, they will live under the banner of the stars, my stars."

Amaranth looked abashed at the concept,

"You intend to destroy their free wi…"

Sasuke was confused, whatever it was that he was seeing was quickly fading away, and he could no longer hear what the tall man named Amaranth was saying.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here? Are you the one known as Sasuke?"

Sasuke spun around to find himself standing in front a tall man, with pin straight black hair cascading around his shoulders. He was adorned in a strange black cuirass that appeared to have been woven out of black strips of steel.

"Who are you?" Ordered Sasuke in the most imposing voice that he could muster.

"Who am I?" Replied the tall man, "I go by many names depending on who is asking, but for all intents and purposes, I am the timeless tenacious terrorist who is tired of the endless tirade of your treasonous travesty. Tomorrow I dare say I will be thought of as tortuous, but today, you may call me, Titus"

Sasuke stared at the man in front of him, "Titus? Then what do you want from me."

Titus smiled at the child, "What do I want from you? I want nothing, this is only a dream after all"

Sasuke sat straight up in his large bed, his eyes darting around the room; his breathing was fast and uneven. Drawing a deep breath he slowed down his racing heart.

'What the hell was that?'

--

Naruto sat up with a groan. He brought a hand up to his head in a failing attempt to stop the world that was rapidly revolving around him. Fighting back the bile that was rising in the back of his throat, he slowly opened his eye's bringing light into his vision for the first time in two days.

"How are you feeling Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked to his side to see a rather disheveled Haku staring at him intently, worry evident on her tired face.

"I'm… Better"

Haku raised an eyebrow,

"Orpheo and Leporello should be back soon, they went to get some food. Do you want any water or something?"

Naruto nodded his head lightly, trying to further agitate the still spinning world.

"My equilibrium is completely off, I can't barely see straight," Naruto mumbled.

Haku handed him a small flask of water, letting him drink deeply as he tried to settle his turbulent stomach. As he finished he wiped off his mouth and dropped the now empty flask to the sand beach below him. Putting his head back into his hands, he mumbled,

"What happened, last thing I remember, I was fighting you after you killed Sakura…"

At this point he jumped back to his feet trying to get some distance between himself and Haku. When he landed he started swaying precariously, until he began to fall forward, straight into Haku's arms. Haku had expected him to fight her off, but instead Naruto clung to her for dear life, as he began crying.

"Haku, you killed her… She was my first and only friend before you came…"

Haku tried to console Naruto, lightly rubbing his back and holding him tightly to her,

"Shhh.., its ok Naruto, she's not dead…"

Naruto pulled back and stared at the girl,

"Not dead? But I saw you hit her with your needles and she dropped to the ground."

Haku stared right into his eyes,

"I only hit a nerve, she should have woken up within an hour or two."

Naruto sank back into Haku's arms,

"Thank God…"

Suddenly a voice from behind them spoke out,

"I wouldn't be thanking God just yet, you two have no idea what you got yourself sucked into."

Naruto looked over Haku's shoulder to see a tall, blue skinned man standing behind them, with a large wrapped sword strapped to his back.

"Who are you?"

The man laughed,

"You may call me Leporello if you wish, but this time knows me better as Kisame."

Naruto stared at the tall man for a long moment,

"Leporello? Then you are one of the Ancients are you not?"

A voice behind the tall man started to laugh,

"See Leporello, I told you that Amarius was talking to the child and that is why he was still asleep."

Naruto frowned,

"Well if that's Leporello then you must be Orpheo"

The black haired Orpheo stepped out from behind his teammate,

"Well deduced Naruto, I see that you have already begun your merger with Amarius then"

Naruto stared at the two men in front of him,

"How can you tell?"

This time Leporello spoke up,

"Your hair is already beginning to change, taking on the silver hue of Amarius's"

Naruto grabbed the metal flask that he had drunk from earlier, and rubbed the side of it with the inside of his shirt to polish is up a little. Lifting it up he used the flatter side as a mirror, sure enough, just like Leporello had pointed out his hair wasn't quite as wild looking and was less of bright yellow and closer to a platinum color.

Glancing over towards Haku who was watching him concernedly, then back towards the two men,

"So what else will change?"

Orpheo answered,

"Well traditionally you'll grow tall, and have silver hair, outside of that though you pretty much stay the way you were meant to be. Remember your merging with Amarius, not being taken over by him"

Naruto sat back down on the sand right where he was,

"So will someone please tell me what all has happened, last thing I can remember clearly I was holding Haku, then it all kind of goes blank"

The two men shared a glance,

"This one is all yours Haku, we're going to go start cooking dinner"

With that the two of them disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto turned a questioning eye to Haku,

"So what happened?"

Haku sat down next to him, looking out to the sea, where in the distance you could just make out Tazuna's bridge.

"Well it seems that your sensei made an attempt to kill you. When you were holding me up, he ran up behind you. I thought he was coming to kill me so I didn't warn you, but he apparently wasn't aiming for me. He drove this ball of lightning right through your chest and threw us both over the edge of the bridge. I honestly don't remember much after that. We were kind of stuck together, and you sank like a brick for some reason, which dragged me down to the bottom. Next thing I remember, Kis… I mean Leporello was taking care of us."

Naruto stared out at the sea,

"Kakashi actually tried to kill me?"

Haku sighed,

"It wasn't just him though, it looks like Sasuke was in on it as well. He knocked out your client then went in to kill Zabuza…"

At this point the girl broke down into light sobs. Naruto looked over to at her,

"You were very close to Zabuza weren't you?"

Haku nodded her head,

"He raised me since I was just a young girl. He found me almost frozen and starved to death. He took me in, gave me a life. He taught me everything I know, and helped with my bloodline."

Naruto reached over and pulled the girl up close,

"Tomorrow then, we will make a grave for Zabuza, he deserves at least that much"

--

Several hours later Naruto, Haku, Leporello, and Orpheo sat quietly around a fire, having finished their meager dinner. Leporello, added a little more wood to the fire, and started up another conversation.

"Tomorrow we will begin training the two of you. Naruto, Orpheo will train you in understanding how to use more of Amarius's techniques. I have no doubt that when you sleep, Amarius will begin training you as well. Haku, I will begin training you as well."

Haku looked at Leporello,

"Why would you want to train me?"

Leporello stared at the girl.

"Because whether you want to admit it or not, Sapho, you are as much a part of this as the rest of us. So we will begin training the girl, whether you show yourself to her or not"

Haku stared at the blue man as if he were insane,

"Who are you talking to?"

"You'll find out soon enough I am sure. But now it is time for sleep, you both have a lot to do and we only have about a month and a half to do it. I plan on having both of you capable by that point."

Naruto looked over to Orpheo,

"Why? What happens in a month and a half?"

Orpheo was already laying himself down on his ground mat near the fire,

"Konoha is hosting the chuunin exams, and we have a promise to keep"

Seeing that Orpheo and Leporello were already starting to doze, Naruto stood up and began walking over to where his ground mat was located. As he stood up he felt something grab his hand. Looking behind me he saw Haku staring at the ground.

"Umm… Naruto I was wondering if you would play me a song before we went to bed, it would help me relax."

Naruto smiled faintly,

"Of course Haku-chan" He reached into his cloak and withdrew the small sealed scroll that contained his prized violin, removing it from the scroll, he lightly ran some bees wax along the bow, before starting the familiar sad tune that he first played for Sakura weeks ago on that hellish ordeal.

Haku sat down on a tree that over hung the incoming tide, and stared at the moon, Naruto slowly walked up next to her and took a seat, without ever missing a single note. After several minutes he let the violin fall from its resting spot under his chin as he sat in a quiet tranquility next to Haku. Slowly, Haku leaned over and rested her head on Naruto's shoulder, as Naruto wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling he close. Haku quietly whispered,

"You're not going to leave me too are you Naruto? Your all I have left…"

Naruto pulled her a little closer,

"Of course not Haku, we're in this together now…" Reaching slowing into his vest he pulled out the pair of rings hanging on the silver chain. Opening the clasp, he slid the rings into his open palm. Haku stared at the pair of rings; the first was larger and had a blue hue to the metal. The second was noticeably smaller, and was completely silver, almost white in color. Both had a unique symbol carved into them, if her memory served her correctly, it was an infinity symbol, but the crossing lines in the center didn't quite meet, leaving the symbol incomplete (I forgot that fanfiction doesn't let you embed links, so here's the symbol that I mentioned naturesintention(DOT)ca/ESW/Images/infinity_symbol(DOTjpg)

Naruto looked at the girl who was innocently leaning against him.

"I've had these rings as long as I can remember" Sliding the blue one onto his right ring finger, he put the other one into Haku's hand.

"I think you should have this one Haku, that way you know that your not alone"

Haku picked up the silver ring and slid it onto her right ring finger,

"Thank you Naruto-kun"

She snuggled into his warmth a little as he gave her a one armed hug.

Back towards the beach, Leporello and Orpheo were both sitting back up watching the two of them. Orpheo broke the silence quietly,

"Amazing, he already knows how to play Amarius's violin."

Leporello nodded in agreement,

"And I think I found a cover for them to get into Konoha as well."

Orpheo raised an eyebrow,

"Do tell?"

Leporello lay back down on the mat,

"In the morning, we'll start training them then, let them have tonight though. They lost a lot recently."

Orpheo watched the pair of them,

"Are you sure they should stay unsupervised?"

Leporello rolled over facing his friend,

"They're only 13 and 14, it's not like their going to do anything drastic. All they need is a little time."

Orpheo slowly lay back down on his mat,

"If you say so"

--

Back in Konoha, Sakura was staring at the sword that was lying in her hands. Using the money that the Hokage had given her, she had gone out and bought a new set of clothes to wear. She no longer wore the bright red dress of her childhood. In its place now was a white kimono, similar to what many of the Hyuuga clan wore. But where theirs were loose, hers was tight, hugging the body. Her hair was done up into a small bun on the top of her head. The bun was held in place by a single light yellow pin. A pale pink obi held the kimono shut, and tucked into the back of the obi was the now ever present sword joshin no Chinoumi.

For the past two weeks she had been training relentlessly with her new sword and tutors. Various Anbu had been assigned to train her while Sasuke and Kakashi were away for a four-week long mission. Apparently Sasuke had done something to anger the Hokage, because for another two week, he and Kakashi were hired farm hands somewhere out in the countryside.

Standing back up, she began working on her genjutsu techniques again. In the next two weeks she had to finish her transformation. Using the death of her friend as a cover she was slowly transforming herself into "The Goddess of the Sea of Blood". Her interim trainers all agreed that she was ruthless and cunning. Her skills for genjutsu were growing by leaps and bounds, along with her skills with the blade. He bow, was still safely sealed away, with the scroll tucked into her obi.

As she was finishing her tri-layer genjutsu she heard a soft clapping from behind her. Spinning around she immediately drew her sword and held it at the person's throat. Standing behind her was an old man, bandages covered most of the mans face, save his left eye and mouth. He was wearing white robes, with a black sort robe turned sling, to hold his right arm. In his left arm there was a simple wooden walking stick.

The old man brushed the sword tip away,

"There is no need for that child. I am only here to help you."

Sakura dropped the sword back down to her side,

"Help me? How?"

The man walked past her towards the heroes' stone.

"I've heard that you've taken the death of your friend rather hard, and that you've thrown yourself into training so that your other teammate won't meet the same fate."

Sakura stared at the man,

"Is there a point to this conversation?"

The man chuckled, although it seemed out of place, as if he was forcing it.

"Of course there is my dear child. I've come to offer you're a place in Konoha's future. You may not know it, but Sasuke is being groomed to be the next leader of this village, and when he is, he will need a silent and deadly right hand man. I'm offering you the chance to be that person."

Sakura sheathed her sword and face the man fully,

"I'm listening"

The man smiled,

"Good, then why don't you come with me to my office, where we can discuss this further."

They walked across the town towards the Hokage tower. Soon they had passed the tower and were at the base of the Hokage monument. In the shadow of the Nidaime sat a small nondescript office building of sorts. Following behind the old man, they walked through the front door and to an office that faced a training ground behind the building. She could see a couple of ninja out there training; given by their techniques she would guess that they were academy students. The old man sat down behind an old mahogany desk, and motioned for Sakura to take a seat on the chair in front of him.

"If you decide to help our cause, Sakura, I can guarantee you the best training that the village has to offer. By the time the chuunin exams roll around you will be fully capable of holding your own against any opponents, and all I ask in return, is loyalty."

Sakura stared at the man,

"So all I have to do is agree to help you, and you'll train me?"

The man nodded his head,

A slightly creepy grin broke Sakura's face,

"So when do I start?"

The man smiled,

"Immediately, I will place you under the tutelage of some of my greatest students. But you will need a codename, as of this day forward, Haruno Sakura is no more, you are The Black Hand of Konoha"

Sakura's smile faltered,

"If I may make a suggestion, I have another name that I would like to go by if it is permissible."

The man didn't respond so Sakura continued,

"May I go by the name of my sword, Joshin no Chinoumi, The Goddess of the Sea of Blood?"

The man smiled,

"That is a good name for one such as yourself child, that will be your name from now until the end of your days. I will call your training partner, he will take you to your quarters."

On some silent command, another ninja appeared next to Sakura,

"What do you require Danzo-sama?"

Danzo stood up,

"Sai, this is your new partner, Joshin no Chinoumi, or Joshin for short. Show her to her quarters and begin her training immediately."

The young man named Sai bowed his head again,

"Yes Danzo-sama" He turned to Sakura, "If you are ready Joshin, we will leave immediately."

Sakura nodded her head and followed the peculiar boy out of the room.

As soon as they had left the room, the boy named Sai turned to Sakura,

"Joshin? If you don't mind my asking how did you receive such and unusual title?"

Sakura smiled lightly,

"Coming back from a recent solo mission after one of my teammates was brutally killed, I was attacked by a group of bandits. I killed every single one of them, until their blood turned the worn trail into a large pool of blood. One of the men I was guarding called me that name, and I guess it kind of stuck"

Sai smiled a disgustingly fake smile onto his face,

"You are a most interesting person Joshin no Chinoumi"

--

Later that evening Danzo was sitting outside a farmhouse on the out skirts of Konoha. Finally after sitting on a old wooden bench for near an hour, Sasuke and Kakashi came walking out of the house towards the old man.

As they neared Danzo stood up and greeted the pair of them.

"I have finished the arrangements for the chuunin exams in a month. At the exams you will be teamed up with the pair that will guard you for the rest of your life Sasuke. I have ensured that they will be forever faithful to you and your ambitions."

Sasuke smiled,

"Good, what are my new teammate's names?"

Danzo pulled out a small scroll,

"The first is a child I have trained since he was very young. He is known as Sai, he will be your weapon from this day forth. The second one is someone with whom you are already familiar. She was once known as Haruno Sakura, but after the death of your old teammate Naruto, and a rather ugly solo mission she took, she now goes by the name of Joshin no Chinoumi. He codename is Joshin though, and I assure you that she is not the same girl who you used to know."

Sasuke took the scroll that contained the information on his two teammates,

"Good, the I assume that Kakashi will continue my training and these two pawns will be trained by you and your men Danzo?"

Danzo nodded,

"We will not trouble you with their training, they will follow you to the ends of the earth Sasuke, and they are always your faithful tools."

A sinister smile broke Sasuke's face as the three began walking back to Konoha.

The world may not of known it at the time, but in the years to come, those two would be the most powerful lieutenants in his military. Sai would come to be known as Tsurugi no Konoha, the sword of Konoha. And Sakura, Joshin no Chinoumi, the right hand of the Hokage.

--

Naruto woke early to meet with his new sensei Orpheo. The man was brutal, but he could not deny the results he was producing. His training with his old Sensei, Yamato, had taught him how to use his weapons and skill, but this man, was refining it. And with the history and theory he was learning from Amarius in his dreams, he was quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with.

Standing up he brushed the sleep out of his eyes. He quickly grabbed his vest and heavy cloak to help ward off the chill present in the air. Pulling it tightly around his shoulders, he fingered the large hole that was still present on the front and back of his cloak. He had planned on replacing the cloak right away, but Orpheo advised him to wait until after they finished training. Which now looking at it, it was a good idea; his cloak had become rather tattered during his training.

Naruto collected some firewood and stoked the fire up so he could begin making some breakfast for the group. Not long after the fire was lit Haku showed up with fresh water and some rice.

Within an hour the four of them were sitting in quiet company eating the breakfast of dried fish and rice.

Leporello broke the silence as he addressed Haku,

"Haku, meet me out on the water in an hour we will continue working on your control of your bloodline"

Haku nodded, and then Orpheo spoke up,

"Naruto, we will meet in the clearing, today we will work on your weapons training in the morn, and your ninjutsu in the afternoon."

Naruto nodded

Orpheo and Leporello stood up and went off to do some training of their own before they started. In the meantime it was expected of Naruto and Haku to spar.

Haku looked over to her friend,

"So where are we going to spar this morning Naruto?"

Naruto sighed,

"I suppose that you want to spar over on the water again don't you?"

Haku smiled,

"Well its only fair, we both know that if we fight in the forest or anywhere like that you'll win because of your hiding techniques. At least on the open water I stand a fair chance."

Naruto frowned,

"Fine, but no using your mirrors this time"

Haku sighed,

"Why not, you can just cut them apart anyways?"

Naruto groaned,

"Fine use your mirrors"

Haku smiled and gave Naruto a quick hug,

"Great lets get going" She grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the beachfront.

Inside Naruto's head he could hear Amarius laughing at him.

Out on the water, Haku drew water up around her and let it slowly spiral around her waiting. Naruto drew two of his trusty knives and fell into a comfortable stance. On some silent signal Naruto ran forward and Haku shot a spear of ice straight at him. As the spear almost made contact Naruto split into three and dodged, one jumping up, and one to either side. Haku quickly drew a bubble of ice around herself as the one the jumped up threw the knife at her. The knife bounced harmlessly off the bubble. Seeing an opportunity she thrust out her right arm. The sphere of ice shattered sending a wave of razor sharp pieces flying all around her. All three Naruto's quickly used shunshin to escape the onslaught.

Haku stood in place and slowly looked around herself waiting for Naruto to come out of hiding. As she waited she slowly began to sweat, despite the chill still present in the morning air.

'Where is he? As long as I can see him I still stand a chance'

Suddenly she felt a tug on her right ankle, looking down she gasped as she saw a familiar bright blue string winding its way along her leg.

"Well crud…"

Was all she got out before she was thrown high into the air. As she reached the peak of her flight, she saw five other strands flying towards her. Summoning some ice to her hand she formed a sword with a razor sharp edge and infused as much chakra into it as she could. She swung with all her might at the approaching strings. She successfully cut through the first two of the blades, but the remaining three broke through her sword and wrapped their way around her arms and left leg.

Knowing she could no longer move the strings lowered her slowly to the top of the water and gently set her on her feet. Naruto appeared seemingly out of nowhere as her feet touched.

She glared at him, quite upset at losing so quickly,

"When did you get time to put up a genjutsu?"

Naruto laughed,

"When you threw your spear at me I had three clones go separate directions while I dropped down below the waters surface. The moment you made that thick dome to protect yourself, I cast the genjutsu."

Haku sighed and sat down on the top of the water,

"Its not fair how quickly you learn some days Naruto-kun. Just a couple of weeks ago you could barely beat me and now you make it look like I'm some wet behind the ears academy student"

Naruto extended a hand to his friend,

"Come on Haku-chan, we both know that I'm not that good, I'm just learning strategies from someone with thousands of years of practice. Its kind of an unfair advantage"

Haku took his hand and let herself be pulled up to her feet.

"Still, I won't give up yet"

Naruto stepped back and dropped into his stance,

"Good, I wouldn't have it any other way"

Haku dropped back into her stance, getting ready to go for another round.

From shore, Leporello and Orpheo looked on with mild interest,

"Naruto has certainly gotten much more powerful, but are you sure that Haku is the right one?"

Leporello sighed,

"She should be, all the clues pointed to her."

Orpheo, still watching his student sparring over on the ocean, continued,

"True, but despite your comment that first night, she has not awakened yet. It doesn't make sense. There must be something missing, but I'm not sure what it is."

Leporello looked over at his companion,

"I say that tomorrow we go and ask the others and see if they remember something that we don't. If nothing else it would do the two of them good to have a day off and have some fun instead of training all the time."

Orpheo nodded as he turned around,

"Tomorrow it is then, for know we need to practice, we only have about an hour before we're supposed to start their training again.

--

Later that day Naruto was standing a clearing roughly a half-mile inland from where they made their shelter. Across from him stood Orpheo, his ornate rapier resting lightly in his hand. He stood perpendicular to Naruto, who was wielding his deadly scythe.

"Again" commanded his sensei.

Naruto leapt forward and with a flourish brought his heavier scythe down towards his sensei who deftly blocked the larger more cumbersome scythe with the lower portion of his sword. Twirling his lighter more nimble blade in a circle, he jerked Naruto's scythe out of his hands. Not loosing a beat Naruto drew a pair of his knives and continued the fight. After several minutes of close combat, Naruto smirked as he successfully locked his sensei's sword between two of his knives. His smirk quickly faded though as Orpheo pushed through the block and punched Naruto in the face with the heavy metal wires surrounding his fist.

Naruto fell backwards and rolled on the ground. As he stopped he felt the now familiar prick of his sensei's sword coming to rest on his throat.

"You've gotten better Naruto, but your still a long way from where you may be. Never assume that just because you've stopped an opponents weapon that he is completely useless."

Naruto grunted as he drew himself up to his feet and wipe the blood off his quickly healing split lip.

Orpheo tossed Naruto his water flask,

"Here drink some water and take a break, we've been at this for three hours"

Naruto accepted the flask and dropped down to the ground, resting beneath a nearby tree for some shade. He quickly drained the flask and let it drop to his side.

"Orpheo-sensei, you said later that we would be working on jutsus right"

Orpheo nodded his head,

"Yes, I plan on working on your genjutsu some more. With your fighting style and control, genjutsu is a must. Your mists are effective, but unless conditions are favorable you cannot maintain them."

Naruto nodded in understanding, although he was a little surprised when Orpheo started talking again, Naruto had long since noticed that Orpheo was a little bit off and tended to keep to himself unless there was an obvious reason for him to be talking.

"Tomorrow Leporello and myself have to go look into something, so you and Haku will have the day to yourselves. You are not to spar or train in any way. You may heal quickly, but Haku does not, so it is imperative that she take some time to rest"

Naruto nodded in understanding,

"So where are you and Leporello going?"

Orpheo, picking up the empty flask, intending on refilling it from a nearby stream,

"We have to check on something with some of our friends. We will be back by the following days sunrise."

Naruto laid his head down, letting himself doze lightly while his sensei went to refill the water.

Too soon for Naruto's taste, Orpheo had returned and ordered Naruto back to his feet.

"Your genjutsu is getting much better. I saw you use a false surrounding and camouflage genjutsu against Haku today in your spar. However, I am going to begin teaching you technique that will be the beginning of one of Amarius most feared techniques, ozoke no an'ya, (Fear of the Dark). However before you'll be able to use that technique you'll need to be much faster and have better chakra control."

Naruto jumped back to his feet, excited to learn a new technique,

"So where do we start"

Orpheo smiled,

"First we'll begin with a technique that another ancient shared with Konoha almost a hundred years ago…

--

Out on the water, Haku stood in just a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, trying to save the rest of her clothing from becoming sopping wet. Leporello was a veritable genius when it came to manipulating the elements. Water, fire, lightning, whatever, it seemed that if there was an attack for an element then he most likely knew it.

Her ineptness at water jutsu was becoming more and more apparent as Leporello constantly outclassed the poor girl at every turn.

"Your getting better Haku, but your agility needs quite a bit of work before you'll be good enough to match Naruto in a fight."

Haku let herself fall into the water and float there.

"I'm wiped sensei, we've been out here for near five hours now making me dance around all your techniques"

Leporello looked up at the sky, seeing the sun begin to turn orange in preparation for its sunset.

"Your right, that's enough for the day fell free to rest there until you have enough energy. I need to fetch Orpheo we need to get heading out."

With that the tall man disappeared with a crack of lightning. Haku sighed, as she floated lightly in the salt water. She was far enough from shore that the waves didn't move her much, just a gentle rocking back and forth. After a couple of minutes she saw a shadow fall across over her face. Opening her eyes she found herself face to face with Naruto.

"Long day Haku-chan?"

Haku just sighed,

"I'm just tired that's all Naruto-kun, I'm just going to float here for a while"

Naruto sighed as he reached down and pulled the lighter girl into his arms and out of the water.

"If you stay out here to long Haku-chan your going to get sick, and then all I'll have for company are Leporello and Orpheo. Don't get me wrong, I like our sensei, but they're not…normal"

Haku giggled,

"They are rather unique aren't they?"

Naruto laughed,

"No, a snowflake is unique, those two are down right nuts sometimes"

Haku laughed again,

"You mean like the time they had a S.C.A.S. because they were bored after dinner?"

Naruto laughed as he began walking towards shore with Haku resting comfortably in his arms.

"Special Culinary Ammunitions Spar my ass, all they did was have a ridiculous food fight."

Haku scowled

"Language Naruto-kun"

Naruto smiled apologetically,

"My bad Haku-chan"

Stepping onto dry land he deposited Haku on a towel near the fire as he went about making food for them, since it seemed as if their Sensei had already left the two of them. Working quietly Naruto prepared several cups of instant ramen and Haku slowly dried off in the warm evening air.

"Naruto? Do you know where my bag went?"

Naruto looked behind him to see Haku looking around for her travel bag that had her spare clothes and sleeping gear in it. Glancing around to where the bag normal sat, against a rock with all the other gear, he was surprised to see the bag gone.

"I'm not sure, Leporello may have taken it with him on accident. It was the same as the rest of their traveling gear."

Haku pulled her knees up tightly to her chest,

"Great, all my warm clothes are in there…"

Naruto stood up and unfastened his heavy cloak from his shoulders and draped it around Haku.

"It's got a few holes in it, but its still warm"

Haku looked up to Naruto,

"Won't you be cold then?"

Naruto smiled,

"Maybe, but I'll just sit closer to the fire to stay warm. Besides I don't want you to get sick or anything"

Haku smiled as she drew the heavy cloak around herself, enjoying the warmth it brought. After a couple of minutes, Naruto handed her a cup of steaming ramen and a pair of wooden chopsticks.

"It's not much for dinner, but I didn't have time to get any food earlier today. Besides ramen is always good"

Haku smiled at her friend's cheerful attitude as she gratefully accepted the warm noodles. With the sun falling the temperature was rapidly cooling. During the days it was warm enough, but with the cool waters surrounding the island, the moment that sun went down, the area cooled considerably, and would stay that way until near noon the next day.

The two ate their noodles in a comfortable silence. By the time they had finished the sun was resting just on the far horizon, just above the edge of the world.

Haku sighed,

"The sun always looks so big at dawn and sunset. Its so beautiful"

Naruto stared at the sun,

"It looks bigger because as it sets, the curvature of the earth work like a big magnifying glass."

Haku stared at him like he had a second head, before Naruto shrugged,

"What? Amarius is making me learn sciences"

Haku laughed, as she drew cloak tightly around herself.

"Naruto, would you."

But before she could even complete her sentence she saw Naruto unseal his violin and wax his bow. But to her amusement she saw him summon a clone, outfitted with another violin.

"I have something special tonight Haku"

Naruto played a short Celtic sounding line and his clone echoed it back. They went back and forth a couple of times before they started playing a fast paced piece. To Haku's utter amazement she heard drums playing in the background as well. The piece went on for several minutes. It switched tempos, mood, and everything. Sometimes she swore she could hear more drums or another violin kick in as Naruto and his clone played back and forth. At one point she was certain she heard a flute playing as well. The song picked up pace near the end. And after a couple minutes of utter amazement Naruto finished with a flourish and a big stupid grin on his face. His clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. (Once again if you're wondering about the song, look for Dueling Violins on youtube, it's a little hard to describe but I think its kinda cool)

"So what do you think?"

Haku stared at her friend slack jawed,

"How did you do that? I mean I get the duet but the drums and everything else? I can't sense any other clones out there?"

Naruto laughed,

"Nope it was just me and the one clone"

Haku jumped up to her feet so she was level with Naruto,

"Then how did you do all that?" She asked waving her hands around

Naruto smiled,

"Its part of a chakra control thing that Orpheo has been teaching me. My Sending out chakra in distinct wave patterns you can make sound. I'm not nearly as good at it as he is, but something like a drum and a flute I can do fairly well, so he taught me that piece"

Haku sat back down,

"That's amazing Naruto-kun, your like a one man band"

Naruto smiled,

"That's the idea anyways, we're going to use that piece and a few others as a cover to get into the chuunin exams in a few weeks"

Haku raised an eyebrow,

"How is you playing the violin going to get us into the chuunin exams exactly?"

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly,

"Ok well maybe not actually into the exams, but into Konoha at least. Along with the exams there are festivals and huge markets set up filled with entertainers. So Orpheo wants us to get in passing off as a group of entertainers. Honestly I don't know the details but that's what he explained to me"

Naruto sat down next to Haku,

"So we have the day off tomorrow, what would you like to do since we can't train?"

Haku stared at the fire,

"I don't know maybe visit Zabuza's grave again. It's been almost a week since we were out to see it"

Naruto stared at his friend,

"That's a good idea Haku-chan, tomorrow we'll go say hello to Zabuza"

Haku smiled,

"He would of liked you, you know that Naruto-kun? Under different circumstance, I bet the two of you would of gotten along great."

Naruto laughed,

"What would make you say that Haku? I mean I hate to disagree, but he didn't seem to fond of me after we first met"

Haku frowned,

"Maybe but, I think your wrong"

Naruto sighed and laid back in the now cold sand,

"Maybe, I would of liked to get to know the man better."

Haku smiled thinking of all her fond memories with Zabuza,

"He really was something else you know? People always called him the demon, but if you got to know him, you knew he hated that stigma"

Naruto lifted his head up to look at his friend,

"Its getting late Haku-chan we should get some sleep. I'll make breakfast in the morning"

With that Naruto stood up and walked over to his mat and pulled his blanket out of his pack to keep warm. Haku pulled Naruto's heavy cloak in tight around her. She heard Naruto adding wood to the fire, after a moment's silence she suddenly heard that familiar sad violin playing nearby. Looking up she saw Naruto sitting on his mat, playing for her as she drifted off to sleep. Within moments she was sound asleep. Naruto quietly resealed his violin and laid himself down for bed. Minutes later he too fell into a calm sleep.

--

Hours later Naruto was awoken by a loud crash of thunder as a large rain laden cloud began pouring down of the top of him. Sitting straight up, he noticed how black it was out. The sun was completely blocked off by a huge storm cloud. Large incoming waves were almost reaching their sleeping grounds on the beach.

Leaping off his mat he quickly began packing everything that shouldn't get wet and sealing it into a scroll. Haku followed his example; apparently the loud cracks of thunder had woken her up as well.

Once everything was packed up Naruto grabbed Haku's hand and yelled,

"There's some shelter near the clearing"

With that the pair sprinted for shelter from the onslaught of rain and lightning. Making his way over a small hill towards the clearing, Naruto ducked underneath a small rocky overhang. It only jutted out a few feet, but it was enough that it kept the rain off of them.

Naruto unsealed his semi-dry ground mat and laid it parallel to the cliff to keep it dry and sat down. Haku sat down right next to him.

"Are you ok Haku-chan?"

Haku looked down,

"Mostly, but I cut my hand on something as we were packing up"

Naruto looked over at her, and she appeared to be cradling her left hand. Naruto took the hand lightly; sure enough right across her palm was a cut about two inches long. It wasn't too deep though. Naruto reached down and cut a swathe of fabric from the hem of his shirt,

"It's not an ideal wrapping, but it will help keep dirt out of it"

He gently wrapped the cut several times before neatly tucking the end into the folds to keep it from coming undone. Once done he looked up to see Haku staring straight at his face. Making eye contact with her he couldn't help a small blush from spreading across his face.

Haku watched quietly as Naruto tenderly wrapped her cut palm. He was so gentle, making sure to not put any pressure directly onto the cut. When he was done she looked up at his face and stared at his blue eyes, her breath hitched a little,

'God those eyes are amazing'

Noticing that Naruto had caught her staring she broke eye contact, and looked away blushing.

A few minutes passed in silence at the pair sat with just a few inches between them. As the rain continued to pound, within minutes they were both reduced to shivering.

"I'm freezing," muttered Haku, through a pair of chattering teeth.

Naruto nodded his head in agreement, before he began taking off his knife vest, leaving only his skintight black shirt on beneath it. He reached over and wrapped an arm around Haku.

"Come here Haku-chan"

Haku slid over the best she could without exposing herself to anymore of the rain. Once she got close, Naruto wrapped his arms around her tightly and drew a damp blanket out of a pack and draped it around both of them. Haku squirmed a little bit before she said,

"I need to get this cloak off, it's soaking wet and really heavy"

Drawing back the blanket, Naruto helped pull the large cloak off her shoulders and set it on the ground next to him. Wrapping his arms and the blanket around her once again, he felt Haku lean back slowly into his chest. After sitting there for a while, he felt her shivers slowly come to a stop.

The storm kept raging for hours with lightning flashing ever couple of minutes, robbing them of any sleep they may have gotten. After a particularly loud thunder crash he felt Haku jump in his arms.

"Haku, back at Tazuna's, what was that song that you sang for me?"

Haku tilted her head to the side,

"You mean that Lullaby right?"

Naruto nodded his head,

"Do you think that maybe, you could sing it again for me?"

Haku began singing softly,

Good night my angel time to close you eyes

And save these questions for another day

I think I know what you've been asking me

I think you know what I've been trying to say

I promised I would never leave you

And you should always know

Where ever you may go

No matter where you are

I never will be far away

Good night my angel now it's time to sleep

And still so many things I want to say

Remember all the songs you sang for me

When we went sailing on an emerald bay

And like a boat out on the ocean

I'm rocking you to sleep

The water's dark and deep

Inside this ancient heart

You'll always be a part of me

Goodnight my angel now it's time to dream

And dream how wonderful your life will be

Someday your child will cry and if you sing this lullaby

Then in your heart there will always be a part of me

Someday we'll all be gone

But lullabies go on and on

They never die that's how you and I will be

As the singing ended Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a light hug,

"Thank you Haku-chan"

Haku turned around and found herself staring straight into his cerulean eyes. As she stared she couldn't help but think,

'I wish I could stay here forever'

As she rested her head on Naruto's shoulder she felt herself slowly drift off to sleep.

--

The next morning, several hundred miles away, Leporello and Orpheo were talking to another man in their order.

"Dante, Are you sure that you cannot find anything else on Sapho?"

The shorter man, with spiky orange hair, ringed eyes, and piercings in his nose shook his head.

"Not anything that we don't already know. Nothing specifically ever points out who Sapho will be, just that she will always appear in Amarius's wake"

Orpheo hung his head,

"Then we will continue on and hope for the best. Thank you Dante"

Dante waved a hand,

"Don't worry too much about it. In the mean time train the girl that is with Naruto now."

With that the pair left and began retracing the journey they had taken just earlier that day.

--

As Haku was resting peacefully she began having the strangest dreams, a young woman with flowing black hair, wearing a strange set of white leather armor approached her and held her in a tight embrace, and looked her in the eye.

"Haku, do you truly wish to stay with Naruto for the rest of eternity"

Haku blushed,

"Well, we're young and everything, but he's all that I have"

The woman smiled,

"Then I am pleased to meet you Haku, my name is Sapho"

--

Several weeks later Naruto and Haku walked hand in hand through the gates of Konoha and made a bee line straight towards the festival grounds that were just beginning to be set up.

Naruto was dressed in a plain black traveling cloak with his violin in a case dangling from his left hand. His hair was almost pin straight now with an even more metallic sheen to it. The marks on his face were covered by a bit of waterproof make up.

Walking beside him, Haku was dressed in a deep blue dress. She was tightly holding onto Naruto's right hand. In the past several weeks both of them had grown several inches, to the point that if one of Naruto's old teammates glanced at him, it would be highly unlikely that they would ever make the connection.

Naruto stole a glance over at his new partner,

"Are you ready for this Haku?"

He whispered lightly so that only she would hear him"

Haku promptly responded,

"We just have to do our job and it should work out."

Naruto nodded,

"Orpheo made a promise to Oji-san, so now we're here to make sure we follow through"

Far above them, looking over the city in his large office, the old Hokage stared at the now flooded city as more and more visitors arrived.

"You're sure about this aren't you Orpheo?"

Turning around he looked at the young man sitting across from his desk.

"Without a doubt, there will be an invasion during the third portion of the exam"

Looking back out the window the old man sighed,

"Konoha is doomed in the end isn't it, even if we defeat the invaders?"

Orpheo sighed,

"Rest assured Hokage, your great city will not fall."

The old man sighed contently and returned to watching his citizens roam around the city,

'Maybe we will weather the storm that is coming'

--

Well there we go, 8th chapter, just over 12,000 words again. It has a little more fluff than some of the previous chapters, but the next few will have more action thrown in. The chuunin exams are up next and outside of a few ideas that I have to set things up for the future I am completely lost for ideas on how to do the exams, so if anyone has any suggestions I would be happy to try and throw them in.

Once again I am sorry for the long update, but school has been getting increasingly difficult and since I do ski patrol most weekends, I don't have near as much free time as I do in the spring or fall.

I hope you liked the last chapter, but just to explain things that I mentioned a little better in case you missed them in the chapter,

First are the scars are Naruto, Itachi/Orpheo, and Kisame/Leporello's faces. As they allude to, they get those marks after every time that they have died, so Leporello and Amarius have died a total of 3 times, and Orpheo just once. Leporello also brings up an important note that not all ancients are the same age, that Amarius and Titus are older.

Second would be what's happening with Sakura, don't forget what her and the Hokage talked about, because its going to be a while before that comes to light.

Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please for the love of all that is holy and good leave a review. I have something like 5100 hits to this story and a total of about 16 reviews; you're killing me here. Hopefully there aren't too many spelling mistakes or anything. I don't have anyone read through them before posting and by the time I finish writing a chapter I've read it so many times that I don't even notice some of the small errors.

Have a good one,

Mechen Manachewagan


	9. Chapter 9 Theories and The Marking

Naruto stared at the man sitting across from him with a confused look on his face.

"Ok run this by me again…"

Amarius shook his head. Since Leporello and Orpheo had banned Haku and Naruto from training inside of Konoha and the surrounding territories, he had to tutor Naruto while he meditated instead. Recently he had taken it upon himself to further explain mathematics and how it relates to their current state, but he was failing miserably.

"Ok, remember ten dimensions. One and two are useless to you; they are only a flat coordinate system. You act in the third dimension. That being length, height, and depth, those three characteristics can be used to define any object that exists in the third dimension. Are you following me so far?"

Naruto nodded his head while staring intently at the much taller man.

"Good. Now while you function in the third dimension, your being is locked in the fourth dimension, which is time or duration. The rules of dimensions state that a being living in a dimension only has control over the dimension below the dimension that he or she exists in. Thus, while you exist in the fourth dimension of time, you cannot freely move through it, but you can navigate the third dimension. If you were to see yourself in the fourth dimension you would see a straight line with you as a newborn child at the beginning, and an old man at the end"

Naruto stared at the man intently,

"Who on earth came up with this ridiculous system?"

Amarius shook his head,

"Look, once you wrap your head around the basics, it generally makes sense. Since the fourth dimension is time, on a linear scale, meaning it moves in a straight line. The fifth dimension is where that line branches off. Choices made by individuals cause these different branches to collapse into the fourth dimension, which is why in that dimension they appear linear"

Naruto was starting to look a little more confused as this explanation continued.

"Ok so the fifth dimension contains what may happen, but when our choices limit those possible outcomes, they fall into the fourth, which is what we exist in, right?"

Amarius nodded his head,

"That's the general idea. So looking a the fifth dimension, saying its all the possibilities of what may happen in a single beings life, the sixth dimension contains all the individual fifth dimensions, meaning it contains the beginning of ours universe and all of the possible endings, for that single universe."

Naruto stared at the man blankly, he was going to ask a question, but decided to just let Amarius continue with his confusing lecture.

"Now, the seventh dimension gives you access to all of the worlds, even the ones with different original parameters. This is important to understand. Something from the seventh dimension does not necessarily follow our rules. Things like gravity, oxygen, or water may not exist in that universe. The physics that we have here, may be useless in another universe from the seventh dimension"

Naruto's eye began to twitch as he was trying, and failing, to understand where this was going.

"Now the eighth dimension can be interpreted as infinity. When acting in the seventh dimension, you are still bound by your own universes laws, which is incredibly important. The eighth dimension circumvents that, where you can call all the dimensions taking into consideration, a single point on a plan known as infinity, you can have multiple points with infinite dimensions.

With the ninth dimension we can compare all the possible universes' histories starting with all the different possible laws of physics and initial conditions. All the possible universes that have ever or will ever exist are a single point of infinity, from the eighth dimension, are arranged in the ninth dimension.

And finally we reach the tenth dimension. What I call the singularity point. It is a single point that contains everything from all the dimensions in a single point. For all intents in purposes the only being that can act in the tenth dimension, is God."

Naruto stared dumb struck at the tall man,

"You lost me somewhere around five or six…"

Palming his hand the man sighed; he was at an end to how to explain this concept to the much younger blonde in front of him.

"Why is this stuff so important anyways? I get that knowing math can be used in creating new techniques and everything, but isn't this a little bit overboard?"

Amarius stood up and began channeling a large amount of chakra.

"Fine, a demonstration then. Attack me with some jutsu."

Naruto nodded and stood up, facing his interim sensei.

"Anything in particular? Or whatever I feel like?"

Amarius replied,

"Start off with a couple of shuriken, then try some broad range attack, something easily visible."

Naruto nodded and pulled a couple black shuriken out of his pouch on his leg. With a snap of the wrist he threw the two stars as hard as he could, sending them straight towards the man in front of them. As the stars approached Amarius they went around him in a wide arc before wrapping back and continuing straight on their path directly behind him.

"How did you do that? Did your spin your chakra like that Hyuuga thing that Orpheo was talking about?"

Amarius shook his head, and began channeling his energy again,

"No, continue the demonstration, then I'll explain"

Naruto nodded; tipping his head back he took a deep breath,

"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Grand Fireball technique)" Naruto grimaced as he saw the large red hot fireball soar rapidly towards Amarius, however to his surprise, as the fireball reached him, it began to just disappear as if it were colliding with an invisible wall of some sort.

Running towards his sensei, Naruto was beside himself,

"How on earth did you do that! The fireball just slowly disappeared!"

Amarius sat back down on the wooden straight back chair that had materialized directly behind him.

Well, for the shuriken, you would have to understand some very advanced mathematics, in this case, a it uses a theory that was written early in the 20th century in Zurich, it was at that time known as "The General Theory of Relativity". The man who came up with it was absolutely ingenious if you asked me. He identified universal rules that were not ever actually supposed to be discovered, and it was because of him that some of the greatest weapons ever conceivable were created. His story though, is something for another day."

Amarius motioned for Naruto to take a seat, at the table that had appeared between them. A pot of hot tea slowly steeping on the table. The scenery surrounding them slowly shifted to a peaceful meadow, which was surrounded with blooming hydrangea.

"You see," said Amarius, as he began pouring some jasmine tea for the both of them "According to the theory, space is relative, meaning that something with enough force or power, can fundamentally change the space surrounding them. Which is ideal when using it for thrown weapons or something more physical. In fact that law is a very key part in my style of taijutsu. Opponents were never able to hit me, because the space directly surrounding me was altered in such a way that any incoming attack would change its position, throwing off timing, or causing things to miss completely. Ironically most believe that this is actually, caused by gravity."

Naruto nodded and blew lightly on his tea, trying to cool the scalding liquid.

"The second technique is actually far more advanced than the first. You see the first technique uses laws that have been proven by the human race and are far easier to understand. The second technique's mathematics has never been fully proven though, it was hypothesized a great deal, but they could never reach a conclusion. The second techniques relies on what is know as 'folding dimensions'"

Naruto groaned.

"Great, back to that dimensions stuff"

Amarius actually let out a small chuckle,

"Anyways, a being can do what is known as folding a dimension if they are powerful enough, no human how ever has ever done more than folding a dimension past the fourth dimension, which if you remember is time. What you saw was folding in the seventh dimension, where I summoned a small gap of a dimension where chakra does not exist, and since it didn't exist, your attack simply ceased to exist."

Naruto's eyes grew wide,

"That's amazing! How come Orpheo or Leporello never showed me anything like that?"

Amarius shrugged,

"Well Leporello technically has. Almost all of the jutsu that you ninja use are merely folds in the third dimension that are powered by chakra. Leporello has never been able to do anything past folding the third dimension. By coincidence only, Orpheo is capable of folding the fourth dimension to a minute degree. Really it was never Orpheo who had that ability, but Itachi, the one who Orpheo first came to, because that ability is merely a function of the sharingan eye"

Naruto looked at the table, and took a small sip of the slowly cooling tea. The green tea's flavor was exquisite, the scent of jasmine flooding his senses as he sipped.

"So the sharingan eye allows you to manipulate the fourth dimension?"

Amarius sighed lightly as he took a sip of his own tea.

"Well technically speaking, the sharingan eye is actually from the fifth dimension. Like most bloodlines, it was given to a person because of something that he or she had done. The sharingan eye was given to the first Uchiha because he single handedly used an incredible genjutsu to stop the kyuubi and put it into a deep slumber. At the time, Kyuubi had forced himself into this world, and that kyuubi is very different from the one that the world knows now."

Naruto, still drinking his tea,

"How was the Kyuubi different?"

Amarius shook his head,

"That's story for another day, today we talk about dimensions"

Naruto just nodded his head; he had learned a while ago that it was best just to agree with one of the ancients, because if they didn't want to talk about something, they just flat out wouldn't.

"So, back to the Uchiha, due to his valor, this being from the fifth dimension, one of what you may of called an angel, gave him a pair of eyes like his own, ones that saw in the fifth dimension. The resultant it what you know as the sharingan eye."

Naruto stared at his cup, obviously deep in thought; Amarius chuckled at the look on his face,

"Don't think too hard Naruto, or you're likely to hurt yourself"

Naruto glared at the ancient being,

" I was just thinking, the fifth dimension is the one that contains all possible futures for the our timeline correct?"

Amarius nodded his head,

"So the sharingan eye really does see the future then?"

Amarius smiled,

"Very good Naruto, but your not entirely correct. The eye can only see a little bit into the future, and using that it determines what is the most likely future that will drop into the fourth dimension, which is why it is still possible to fool a sharingan eye. The eye that was owned by the angel, truly could see everything that could happen, but since the human who gained the eye did not work the same way the angel did, he could only harness a small portion of the original eye's techniques."

Naruto stared at the table, no giving no thought to the hot tea still resting in his hand.

"So who else has created techniques that fold the fourth dimension?"

Amarius poured himself another cup of the tea,

"Well one of the most notable was actually the fourth Hokage's Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God technique). One of the laws of the dimensions is that by folding into the dimension above you, allows you to move freely through a lower dimension. He would use a technique to fold the fourth, allowing him to transport himself to any location in the third. The problem is that he lacked the control or understanding to control where he went, which is why he created a second part to the technique that using a kunai marked with a seal, would give him a precise point that he could find in the fourth dimension and go right to. So contrary to what the other countries may of believed, he truly had a teleportation technique, not just some high speed thing"

Naruto sat back in his chair and sighed,

"You know the world was a lot simpler when techniques were just hand signs and chakra, not folding dimensions"

Amarius laughed,

"This is nothing, wait until you begin to actually fold the dimensions"

Naruto groaned,

"When are we going to learn that?"

Amarius smiled as the table and all the tea disappeared,

"Now"

--

Naruto stood in front of small audience in the festival grounds in Konoha holding his violin in one hand. Behind him he could see Haku sitting at a small piano. Apparently Sapho had spent a great deal of time teaching the girl how to play the piano for this moment.

Haku started the piece; her fingers dancing lightly across the keys, after several moments, Naruto started playing along. Orpheo told him that the song was originally written by a group named Yanni, which he admitted sounded a little strange but he couldn't deny that the song, "Until the Last Moment" was pretty good.

As the piano began to fade, Naruto took the lead in the song, playing a rather provoking piece that slowly sped up.

He had to admit that the plan to sneak into the city as a group of young musicians was good. It allowed them deep into the heart of the city without any irksome questions being asked. Plus truth be told, they were making more money doing this than Naruto had ever made doing those stupid D-rank missions.

The song finally came to an end, Haku stood up and walked up to the front of the stage with Naruto, together they took a bow and walked off, collecting the money that had been given to them as they left.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. Directly in front of them was none other than Sasuke, being flanked by the now ever present Sakura and Sai.

Naruto was surprised, Sasuke was dressed as always, and he had no idea who the third person was, but Sakura, she looked completely different from what he remembered. Her She still looked very pretty, but now it seemed to thinly veil a sense of complete ruthlessness that sat just below the surface. It seemed that her warm caring attitude was gone, and born from it was a cold heart. Not to mention that her bright red dress was long gone, having been replaced by the white kimono with a pink obi, he was fairly certain that he could even see the hilt of a sword sticking out from behind her.

Sasuke walked forward,

"Your performance was very moving. I have never heard a pair play music nearly as exquisite as the two of you. If you would be so kind, me and my party would like to invite you to join us for dinner"

Naruto bowed deeply, he could tell that Sasuke appeared to hold more power in the city than previously, so he felt best to play as if he were a nobleman instead of just a lowly genin.

"You honor us. We would be happy to join you for dinner"

Sasuke nodded,

"Good, I am Uchiha Sasuke, my companions are Joshin no Chinoumi and Sai."

Naruto nodded,

"My name is Tamehide Amago, my girlfriends name is Okubo Tomoe"

Haku blushed at being called his girlfriend, but Orpheo had insisted that they needed to be either a couple or related, because otherwise it would make it much more difficult, and since the looked nothing alike, the were stuck we being a couple. Not that Haku, or Naruto for that matter, would complain.

Sasuke turned, signaling for the pair of them to follow. Sakura or Joshin whatever she was going by these days, stayed close to Sasuke, while Sai fell back to walk with their guests.

"You're performance was very well done. And it seems as if Sasuke-sama has taken an interest in you. You are very fortunate."

Naruto smiled as best as he could,

"I am glad that someone such as him found our performance acceptable."

Sai replied with a painfully faked smile and led the group in silence, following Sasuke's lead. Naruto could see Haku begin to tense up out of the corner of his eye. He knew there should not be any way for his old teammates to recognize him. He was several inches taller, had straight hair, not spiky, and it was more of a platinum blonde, not the bright blonde. If anything, someone may confuse him for a Yamanaka, not Uzumaki Naruto. Haku had changed as well, but not as noticeably, mostly just the height difference, but since she was wearing a dress and had her hair down, she too looked very different from what anyone had seen on the bridge all those weeks ago.

Naruto took his hand out of is pocket; he could instantly see Sai watching him closely for anything hostile. Slowly he reached over and took Haku's hand, giving it a small squeeze of reassurance.

Haku turned and looked at him, giving a small smile in thanks. Sai relaxed, figuring that the young couple were just nervous. He returned to watching the street for different threats.

After walking for several blocks they came to a stop in front of a rather formal looking restaurant. Sasuke walked up and said something to the maitre-d and said something to him that Naruto couldn't hear, but whatever it was that he was told got the group seated immediately.

Naruto and Haku both felt exceptionally out of place. Both had spent the greater portion of their life living in the wilderness or on the run, so any place as sophisticated as the building they were in now, just felt strange.

Regardless of what they were feeling though, they had to keep up their masks, because this dinner would be the ultimate test of their new personas.

--

Leporello and Orpheo sat at a small teahouse just inside the gates of Konoha. For the two of them slipping in had been much easier that for their young charges. They just had to sit quietly and not cause any problems and it was almost certain that there would not be any problems. With the city as busy as it is during the month of the Chuunin exams, it was painfully easy to slip in unnoticed. It was an advantage that they were certain they shared with many others.

Leporello pointed in conspicuously behind Orpheo,

"There, another sound ninja"

Orpheo glanced at the man in question,

"That makes fifteen today doesn't it?"

Leporello nodded as he took a small bite of the cookie he ordered,

"It seems Dante was correct in assuming we would not be the only ones sneaking into the city."

Orpheo nodded,

"So what are we going to do about it? We can't start taking them out of someone will notice, and because of that Danzo we can't make it look like it was Konoha ninja because they'll recognize what's going on"

Leporello nodded and stood up,

"Then our hands are tied, we can't really do much of anything about them"

Orpheo stood up as well, obviously not happy with their predicament,

"So until then I guess we just scout out the surrounding area's, the best we can do is try to foil anything they are doing outside of the city"

Leporello nodded in agreement as they walked out of the establishment,

"That would be the most logical thing for us to do however I am not thrilled about possibly leaving Naruto and Haku here alone. If they were to b discovered…"

But Orpheo cut him off before he could finish the sentence,

"Even if they are caught, Naruto already has a contingency plan set up for that, they will be fine without us here to hold their hands"

Leporello looked down the road they were walking, just in time to see Naruto and Haku duck into the restaurant, holding each other's hand tightly. Smiling he let out a small laugh.

"Actually Orpheo I would say that they appear to have the 'holding hands' part covered pretty well"

--

Naruto lay awake late that evening, staring at the roof of the small hotel room he was sharing with Haku. She was currently sleeping lightly on the other bed. He was worried about the dinner they had shared with his old teammates.

'I don't think they ever noticed who I was. I know that Sai would not be able to recognize me, and I doubt that Sasuke would ever make the connection, but Sakura may be a liability'

Without a doubt, Sakura was the only person in Konoha that ever gave him the time of day outside of the Old man and Yamato. He was happy to see that his friend was all right, but it scared him as well. Because of where she was with Sasuke, it was likely that his 'death' had scared her to his side; in which case, she may now be the enemy.

Sighing, Naruto stood up and walked over to the small porch outside of their room. He shut the door behind him so the sounds still wafting up from the festival below wouldn't wake Haku, at least she would get a good nights rest. Sitting on the small plastic chair he looked out over the city lights that were just below him.

"Konoha is busy during the time of the exams isn't it?"

Naruto turned, almost unsurprised to find that old monk once again sitting next to him on the porch, seemingly looking out over the city.

"You just like bugging me don't you?" Questioned Naruto.

The old monk laughed,

"It's what I do. Anyways I came here today with a couple of things that I wanted to share with you."

Naruto sighed and leaned back into his chair,

"Well go on then. I'm awake anyways so I may as well listen to you"

The old monk cracked a smile,

"Well you see I thought that I should just tell you that tomorrow is the first day of the exams, where they will complete exam one and immediately begin the second exam. All I wanted to tell you is that it may behoove you to follow them for the first portion"

Naruto sighed,

"Is there any reason why I should follow them into that stupid forest? Because to me it seems like a completely unnecessary risk"

Not hearing a response, Naruto looked out of the corner of his eye, the chair beside him completely empty. Looking back down towards the city, he could see drunken fools making their way back home, or over towards the red light district. They were disgusting, complete loss of all their moral integrity over something as pointless as alcohol. Naruto had never understood people's fascination with getting completely inebriated. Maybe it was because of the drunken fool that had beaten him as a child, or maybe it was because he had a touch of common sense. Either way, he had never understood that addiction.

Standing up he made his way back into the room and sat quietly at the end of his bed. Despite him being as quiet as he could possibly be, Haku had woken anyways, which is not really all the surprising, because traditionally the only deep sleep a ninja ever gets, is death.

Haku sat up and looked at him,

"Can't sleep again Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shook his head,

"I'm sorry that I woke you Haku, but yeah, I've been having a hard time sleeping lately. Amarius said that it's a common affliction in the Ancients and that I shouldn't be overly worried about it as long as I spend at least a few hours a day meditating. But still that leaves me feeling drained, its not as relaxing as sleeping is."

Haku stood up and walked over towards Naruto, her white nightgown stretched well past her knees, but still Naruto blushed a little at the sight.

"Its stress Naruto, you need to relax more. You should have joined me in the onsen earlier this evening"

Naruto sighed,

"You don't think I'm starting to get a little crazy like Orpheo and Leporello do you? I think all this is starting to get to me a little bit"

Haku laughed a little,

"You were already a little crazy Naruto-kun, so just lay down and rest ok?"

She pulled Naruto down onto the bed and pulled the sheet up over the both of them. She sighed contentedly as she used his right shoulder as a pillow. Within moments Haku was back to sleep, but Naruto still laid awake for a few more minutes before sleep finally took him.

--

Once asleep, Naruto was immediately confronted by Amarius, who was sitting staring at the large blue spherical seal that contained the Kyuubi. Amarius motioned for Naruto to take a seat on the bench beside him.

"I won't keep you long tonight Naruto, you are in great need of sleep. I just felt that it would be a good time to answer your question from the other day on how the Kyuubi had changed from the one that attacked your world originally, compared to the one that attacked your village the day you were born"

Amarius turned and handed Naruto a square bit of paper with an intricate seal drawn on it.

"Before I can show you though, I need you to apply this over the top of the seal that is already in place. Just place it over the seal and channel some chakra onto it, it will do the rest from there"

Naruto nodded, and obediently took the seal from Amarius. He placed the piece of paper over the top of his stomach and channeled chakra onto it. He could feel the seal grow warm but within seconds the warmth was gone.

Looking around he was amazed to see large metal gates wrap their way around the seal that was in place, completely shielding him from the actual seal. He turned and looked at his sensei with a questioning eye.

Amarius stood up and began walking towards the seal.

"All that is, is a temporary seal that will completely block the Kyuubi from being able to escape, at his current power it will last about 10 minutes or so, but that will give us plenty of time to take a peek at him."

As they grew closer, Amarius turned towards Naruto,

"Surely you have seen drawing or paintings of the Kyuubi during your stay in Konoha have you not?"

Naruto nodded,

"Yeah, he was a big red fox, had nine tails, and looks positively bloodthirsty"

Amarius nodded,

"That's as good of a description as I've ever heard, but unfortunately the demon that attacked Konoha is not actually the true Demon Lord that that your world named Kyuubi. What you know is Titus's bastardized version. Using ancient techniques he changed the Kyuubi and turned it into his personal assistant"

Naruto stared at Amarius with wide eyes.

"So what your saying is that Kyuubi really isn't bad and that it attacking Konoha was all a mistake?"

Amarius stared at the seal as if he were deep in thought,

"Well yes and no really. The kyuubi never willingly attacked Konoha I suppose, but he is without a doubt what you humans would call evil. He was an early creation of God, who used him to destroy an evil world where evil proliferated to the point that it had invaded almost every living being. Kyuubi did a very good job in turning their world into hell, but in doing so, he became more evil that they were. He relished in pain and destruction and he lived only to spread it across the worlds. Soon after he completely obliterated him home, he learned how to fold the dimensions and began jumping from one world to the next, sowing destruction wherever he went. It wasn't until God intervened and created laws that prohibited the jumping of universes that he was finally stopped, but he came to rest on this world. It was there that the first Uchiha was able to subdue him long enough for God's regents to claim the soul of the Kyuubi and lock him into a place that he should never of been able to escape from. However when Titus learned of Kyuubi's resting place, he sought that power for himself, and using forbidden techniques he brought Kyuubi under his control and brought him here."

Amarius raised a hand towards the seal,

"This is what Kyuubi's true face looks like"

As Amarius's chakra struck the seal, the blue that normally blocked the demon from view began to fade. As it did, Naruto felt a chill go down his spine and the large demon appeared in front of him.

In all the years that he had known of the Kyuubi, he had always pictured the moment that he would finally meet the beast, how he would stand tall in front of him and challenge the beast. He never expected this though.

In front of him, held seemingly by only a small pane of glass that was the outside of the original seal and the metal barrier set by Amarius was an impossibly large black beast, standing well over two hundred feet tall. It looked like it was comprised of a dark smoke, who's inner core was a brilliant blaze. You could see fire throughout his limbs, at though it was the demon's lifeblood. His muzzle was a burnt orange, with bright white teeth gleaming with saliva. It indeed did have nine long tails, but they barely resembled the tails of the kyuubi that Naruto had seen in pictures. These tails lashed about violently, crashing into the glass, creating a deafening roar echo through the chamber. The demon's eye's charcoal eye's settled on the pair of men standing in front of him. His eye's flashed a dark red as he heard the demon mutter,

"It's been a long time Ama…"

But he was cut off as Amarius let chakra flow back into the sphere, completely blocking off the demon from Naruto and himself.

Naruto was still staring wide eyed at the sphere, which was now once again glowing a vibrant blue, holding the demon at bay.

"What was that thing?"

Amarius sighed,

"That is the true Kyuubi, the seal has robbed any control that Titus had over him. The demon is most likely aware that it is finally being destroyed by that seal, which is why it is incredibly important that you never use the demon's chakra"

Naruto nodded,

"I think I'm going to sleep now Amarius-sensei, I will see you tomorrow"

As Naruto faded, Amarius turned back towards the large blue seal,

"You bastard Kyuubi, you almost told him. You know the rules, he cannot know until it is time…"

--

Naruto woke up early the next morning, just a little before sunrise. He quietly slipped out of the bed, trying not to wake up Haku, who was completely tangled in the sheets. He walked over and began getting dressed, not in the formal civilian clothes he had been wearing since he first came back to Konoha, but into his battle outfit, complete with a new cloak. On the front left, just over his heart, was the a dark red flower with five petals, in the center was a lighter red little cup, like what you see on a daffodil, behind the 5 large red petals were six small red petals that almost resembled a blade of grass. He honestly didn't know the name of the flower, but Orpheo had explained to him that the red flower had long been the symbol of Amarius.

Sliding all six of his well polished throwing knives into the holster around his chest, he tightened down all the buckles. Turning around he saw Haku sitting up in bed staring at him.

"Why are you wearing that? Is the invasion occurring earlier than planned?"

Naruto shook his head,

"No, but I have some information that I should follow Sasuke's team in the second exam."

Haku stood up quickly, before her tangled feet caught up with her and sent her crashing to the floor. Lying on the ground in a small heap, Naruto heard her mumble,

"You could have at least woken me, then I'd be ready to go too"

Naruto laughed at the girl's predicament, and offered her an arm up.

"Fine, next time I'll wake you up"

Haku gave him a quick hug,

"Thanks, I'll be ready in a minute"

Haku grabbed her bag and ran into the bathroom to change. As Naruto waited, he took a seat on the bed again and began flipping through one of the books that Orpheo had given him to read. Cracking open the worn leather cover he read, 'The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli'. He never saw the point to doing all this reading, but this book had already come in handy. In laymen terms this book bluntly laid out how a noble should act, and while Naruto did not necessarily agree with many of the teachings the book conveyed, it did offer him a step inside of the minds of many different lords or council members.

Looking through the book it occurred to him that the language the book was written in was completely unknown to him just several weeks prior, but know he was able to read it, nearly as easily as he could of read his first language.

Naruto began reading again,

_Besides what has been said, people are fickle by nature; and it is a simple to convince them of something but difficult to hold them in that conviction; and, therefore, affairs should be managed in such a way that when they no longer believe, they can be made to believe by force._

Naruto thought back to the village that Tazuna had built the bridge for. They were a perfect example for this idea, Gatou convinced them at first that he was good for them, but soon after, he began to take over by force, because he knew he could never hold the cities heart.

Looking up he could see Haku walking out of the bathroom, her once rumpled bed hair now pin straight and framing her pale complexion. Like Naruto she had discarded her blue dress and gone to wearing the dark blue and green yukata, however she no longer wore the mask, because that would give her away instantly.

Smiling, Naruto shut the book and set it on the table,

"Well lets get going then, from what I gathered from Sasuke the other night at dinner, they should be done with the first exam at about 10:30 or so, and that's when the second portion will begin, so we need to be there waiting."

Haku nodded and opened the door to the porch; both quickly disappeared in small shunshin.

Seconds later the arrived outside of the 'Forest of Death'. Standing high in a tree, Naruto pointed down below them,

"In that tent is where they are storing all the information for the exam, so we should be able to find out Team Seven's starting gate from there"

Haku nodded,

"I'll go find them, I'm still sneakier than you are"

Naruto nodded, as Haku melted into a puddle of water, probably reforming somewhere inside the tent. He would of liked to go, but Haku was right, in the field of stealth he had nothing on Haku. That girl could easily sneak into places that would take Naruto a long time to even have a chance of getting in. Of course that was primarily due to the fact that her bloodline allowed her to turn into a puddle of water and seep through the ground at a rapid rate.

Minutes later Haku appeared next to Naruto, still well hidden from any of the chuunin below.

"Looks like team seven is scheduled to go in at gate 42. It's not too far from here so we should be able to get in before them and follow closely from behind"

Naruto nodded,

"Ok, lead the way, I want to be able to get to know the area before they come in"

As they made their way around the fenced enclosure towards the gate, Naruto slowly began forming a mental map of the surrounding area, from where he could see rivers, rock formations, anything that may help them navigate the forest at a later time.

After running for several minutes they finally came to the gate marked 42. Stopping just in front of the gate, Naruto looked around, surprised that no Konoha ninja were not already present. Not being one to complain about a gift though, Naruto said nothing.

"Ok, we'll go in from here, and rendezvous just inside the gate in an hour, you go right and I'll go left, try to map as much area as you can."

Haku nodded and in a small the two instantly took to the trees to begin plotting out the surrounding area.

--

Several miles away at the academy, Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai were making their way up the stairs towards the third floor where the first part of the exam was scheduled to be held. As they came around the corner, they found a large mass of students surrounding the door that seemingly led to the room of their exams. A poorly done genjutsu was laid over the door. As they silently turned to make their way up to the third floor, a green blur suddenly appeared in front of Sakura and Sasuke. The idiot in green began spouting of some random stuff, before finally declaring his everlasting love for Sakura. Sasuke made to move around him but the bowl cut freak stuck out an arm blocking his way.

"You are Uchiha Sasuke are you not? The newest prodigy that has emerged from the academy?"

Sasuke turned a cold eye towards the strange looking guy who wore what appeared to be a green spandex jumpsuit.

"I, Rock Lee, challenge you for the heart of my beloved Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke just sneered and began walking around him,

"If you want her so bad, you can fight her. I can guarantee that you stand no chance against Joshin no Chinoumi and even less of a chance against me"

Lee turned towards Sakura, who was still standing before him, as if waiting to see if Lee would actually fight her.

"I do not want to fight you my beautiful springtime flower, but I will do anything that I must to prove my undying love for you!"

Sakura just gave a small nod, and motioned for Lee to go towards the small dojo located in the basement of the academy. As they began walking, she could hear Sasuke and Sai behind her,

"Don't take too long Joshin, just remove the competition and move on, we can't be late to this exam"

Sakura nodded her head and followed Lee deeper into the belly of the school.

No one ever witnessed the battle that took place, but the results spoke for themselves. Sakura walked out of the dojo only minutes later, without a speck of any dirt on her immaculate white kimono. Her sword was tucked safely in the sheath in her obi, and she made the exam with plenty of time.

--

Back at the exam, Sakura caught up with her two teammates just outside of the third floor classroom. She saw a bun-haired girl and an unknown Hyuuga brush past her, obviously in a hurry to go somewhere. Sasuke looking over towards her,

"You didn't kill him did you Joshin?"

Sakura shook her head,

"No, he was an ally, so I only made sure that he knew his place in the world. He'll live and he should be able to return to being a ninja"

Sasuke nodded, and Sai broke into his fake smile,

"Well then, shall we finish the examinations?"

--

Tenten and Neji rapidly searched the building looking for their third teammate.

"Neji" shouted Tenten, "Can you find him with your byakugan? Because if we don't find him soon we'll be disqualified"

Neji's veins were already bulging around his eye's signaling that he had already activated the byakugan,

"I'm looking, but since he doesn't have a large chakra signature its really hard to locate Lee quickly"

The ran down to the first floor when suddenly Neji stopped dead in his tracks.

"Dear God, he's in the basement dojo, but something is wrong with him!"

Tenten had never seen such a reaction in her normally stoic teammate. This man had single handedly beaten both her and her teammate on several occasions, leaving Lee a bleeding unconscious pile, but he was always completely stoic, and his voice, almost sounded afraid.

Without a second thought both of them flew down the stairs, and jumped the railing landing on the floor of the dojo below. Tenten instantly spotted her rather unique friend lying in a pile on the floor, rushing towards him she went to roll him over, when Neji shouted,

"Don't touch him!"

Tenten's arm stopped just inches from Lee's shoulder,

"Both of his femurs, six ribs, his left clavicle, right shoulder blade, right humorous, and both radius and ulna in his left are broken. I don't see any spinal damage, but with as many broken bones as he has, it's possible."

Tenten stared at Lee,

"But he's not bleeding at all?"

Neji began running towards the door,

"Maybe not outside, but with both femurs broken, he's going to go into to hypovolemic shock. Get his legs into a traction splint, I'm going to go get help!"

Tenten immediately went to work on her friend, trying to pull his legs to stem the flow of internal bleeding.

'Well all those broken bones would definitely explain why he's unconscious, still though…"

As she pulled traction, she could see a deep bruise forming on Lee's left arm, it stretched across the middle of his arm, but was only a little wider than a pencil.

'Looks like the back of a sword' was all that Tenten thought, before several medic-nin sprinted into the room and took over.

Several seconds later Gai had also appeared, after his team had failed to make it for the start of the first exam. He saw his prized student being carried away on a backboard, just as he arrived.

The doctors never did find out exactly what had happened, mostly because Lee flat out refused to tell anyone. What the doctors did note however, is that besides the broken bones, he appeared to of been heavily damaged from some sort of genjutsu, and that it seemed that he had opened at least 2 or 3 of the celestial gates, but since Lee refused to talk about it, they would never know for sure.

--

Naruto and Haku both emerged into a tree, several hundred feet away from the gate, almost instantaneously. Naruto looked over towards Haku,

"I didn't find much at all really, I barely even saw any of the dangerous wildlife that's supposed to inhabit the area"

Haku nodded,

"Indeed, it appears as if someone is trying to make this as easy as possible for team 7. The only teams entering near them is a team from Mist, who should have the opposite scroll as them, and have failed the exam before and a small unknown team from Grass country, and due to geography in the area it would be highly unlikely that the Kusa-nin would come anywhere near team seven."

Naruto silently agreed,

"It looks like Konoha has rigged the exam a little to ensure that their precious Uchiha will reach the finals"

Haku nodded,

"So do you still plan on trying to follow them?"

Naruto stared at the gate, where he could now see a chuunin standing waiting for the team to arrive,

"Yeah, something I going to happen in this place and I want to know what."

--

Within an hour Ibiki, the first examiner, had finally concluded the first exam. The tall scarred man had successfully reduced the class size down to almost a third of what it had originally been, but it wasn't anywhere near where it should have been, which is probably why Anko had given him such a hard time.

The class was currently making their way towards the second exam area. Not long after reaching the clearing with the tent holding all the exam information that Haku had snuck into earlier, the crazy woman, who looked more like an exhibitionist than a kunoichi, began explaining the second exam to everyone. Team Sasuke though paid little, if any attention to what she was saying though, Danzo had already informed them several days prior as to what to expect in the second exam.

Anko apparently noticed Sasuke's inattention, because she hurled a kunai knife right at his head. Which is why she was surprised to see the knife blocked long before it reached her target. Standing in front of the Uchiha, was the pale kid, named Sai, who was holding what looked to be a small kodachi of some sort.

"You will not attack Sasuke-sama, Anko-san"

Anko was surprised that a genin had blocked her weapon, granted she hadn't thrown the knife all that hard, but it was still surprising to see a genin as powerful as this Sai appeared to be.

She was about to run behind the brat of an Uchiha to scare some sense into him, when she felt a presence right there beside her, turning she saw a strange long haired Kusa-nin, holding the slightly damaged kunai out for her.

"I believe this knife is yours, isn't it Examiner-san?"

Anko nodded and grabbed the knife from the strange looking kunoichi,

"Thank you" Replied Anko, but at the same time, she pulled her second kunai away from the genin's stomach, smiling the entire time,

"But if you value your life, you will never sneak up behind me again"

With that rather odd encounter out of the way she began explaining the rather small list of rules that were a part of the second exam.

Rule 1. Complete your pair of scrolls so you have both Earth and Heaven scrolls

Rule 2. Make it to the tower within 5 days with all of your teammates.

Rule 3. Don't open the scrolls until you reach the tower, and don't leave the forest

Rule 4. Obey the first 3 rules.

With those out of the way, each team was made to sign a waiver so Konoha couldn't be held responsible for their deaths, and then they were assigned a scroll and entry point. The examine was as simple as it was brutal, it almost encouraged you to kill your opponents, but being an exam they couldn't outright say that, so they just subtly hinted to it.

Once team Seven had their Earth scroll they quickly made their way towards gate 42, to await entry into the forest, they had no doubt that within the day they would be able to complete this stage of the exam and continue onto the third exam.

--

Naruto nudged Haku who was still sitting completely still next to him,

"Here they come Haku-chan, be ready to follow them, because as soon as that gate opens they're going to rush in, we're going to have to follow a decent way behind them and we cannot interfere unless it is absolutely necessary"

Haku nodded, although she had already known what Naruto had told her. After the team had sat for a couple of minutes, a loud horn somewhere in the middle of the forest sounded, signaling the start of the exam. The Chuunin unlocked the training grounds and team seven sprung into the forest, racing straight towards the central tower. After they passed below Naruto and Haku, the began to tail them from well behind, they knew if they got to close to Sasuke, who might activate his sharingan, that they could be noticed.

After several miles of zigzagging through the forest floor, team seven stopped for a short breather and to make a plan of attack for the upcoming fights.

Sasuke, pulling out a small map of the forest pointed to a spot.

"We should be right about here. I overheard that the team from mist was likely to be above us, but I have a feeling they will come to us, we just need to wait. So we're going to go straight towards the tower and wait to ambush the first team to get near us. We're inside the forest, so fight to kill"

Both Sai and Sakura nodded to their captain, who stood up and dusted off his shorts,

"Good then lets ge…"

But he was cut off as a huge blast of wind tore through the area, kicking up dirt and debris and even upturning a couple of the smaller trees.

Sai jumped in front of Sasuke to protect him from any flying debris, but was struck in the head by a particularly large piece of wood and was knocked deep into unconsciousness.

As the wind died down, Sakura and Sasuke grabbed Sai and dropped to the forest floor. The moment Sakura set her injured teammate down, she felt an incredible killer intent come crashing down upon her. She instantly recognized the technique,

"Kanashibari no jutsu" she whispered to Sasuke, She had been on the receiving end of this technique nearly a hundred times between her training with Naruto and some of the black op Anbu that had trained her recently, although none of their jutsus had ever been as powerful as the one she was experiencing now. But within moments both her and Sasuke had shrugged it off, but remained on guard, waiting for their hidden opponent to show.

They were not left wanting, within moments the weird Kusa-nin appeared on a branch in front of them.

"Oh? You both broke out of the Kanashibari? I would expect nothing more from the Uchiha, but who are you little girl?"

Sakura turned to face their adversary, and began channeling her chakra for her now signature technique.

She slowly drew her sword from the black sheath behind her, as she did so her eye's seemed to grow a deep almost blood red, and her hair began to fan out, giving her an almost demonic aura around her.

The Kusa-nin didn't notice it immediately, but the surrounding area had began to grow darker, as if the sun were beginning to set, below her, the forest floor began to take on the appearance of a small lake, a lake made entirely of blood.

"You may call me Joshin no Chinoumi (Goddess of the Sea of Blood)" replied Sakura in an icy cold voice.

The Kusa-nin was surprised to see the small kunoichi leap at her with an insane amount of bloodlust for such a small person. Her sword flashed as it crashed down hard on the enemy's kunai. The enemy smirked at first then she notice that her kunai was almost cleaved in two.

The Kusa-nin jumped back and began rapidly making hand seals, unfortunately the foreign ninja was never able to complete the technique though as Sakura sprung towards her, trying to drive her blade straight into the enemy's chest. The Kusa-nin dodged much faster than she had been earlier. Without a moments hesitation Sakura spun the blade and made a small cut on the ninja's forearm. Jumping back a step she made a single hand seal,

"Chiburi no Jutsu (Chiburi literally means to flick blood from one's sword)" The small drops of blood quickly expanded to form sharp red needles that flew towards the ninja.

Dodging the needles, the ninja jumped back to another branch and surveyed the scene. Sasuke had yet to move a muscle, seemingly content with allowing his guard to take care of him. Looking back he could see Sakura still glaring at him, obviously waiting for him to make a move.

"Joshin no Chinoumi indeed, I never expected Sasuke's guards to be this skilled, however I am not here for idle fights with you"

In the blink of an eye he crossed the gap between them and landed a crashing blow on Sakura, sending her falling to the floor below. Amazingly she was still conscious, but the wind was completely knocked out of her, and it was unlikely she would be up and moving anytime soon.

--

Naruto and Haku sat quietly in a tree several hundred yards away, quietly watching the scene unfold.

"Do you think we should go to help them?" Questioned Haku, "The boy named Sai was knocked out in the initial attack, and since Sakura's genjutsu dropped she's either been knocked out, or was hit hard enough to break the genjutsu"

Naruto shook his head,

"No not yet, something is happening here and I want to know what it is"

--

Sasuke stared at the ground where his second, and final guard had dropped to the ground.

"I guess it's just you and me now isn't it?" Asked the overly arrogant Uchiha

The unknown Kusa-nin dropped to the ground silently and began entering a ready position.

Sasuke stood straight, he stared at his opponent for a second before quickly activating his Sharingan, he had managed to advance it since the battle at the bridge, but he still only had two tomoe in each eye. Those tomoe began to spin rapidly as they processed all the information they could about the man in front of him.

"The famed sharingan eye, I have always been interested in that particular dojutsu, in fact, that's half the reason I'm here"

Sasuke just grunted,

"So what's the other half?"

The strange ninja just smiled,

"I'm here to deliver a message and gift, but they won't come until later, first, we fight"

The man ran quickly towards the Uchiha, however with his sharingan it appeared slower, and he easily intercepted the first attack and landed a heavy blow on the man's right shoulder.

They danced among forest floor for several minutes, coming together and clashing before springing apart again. Their deadly dance soon advanced as Sasuke began throwing out large shuriken with lengths of ninja wire attached, he managed to wrap the ninja to large tree. Jumping down in front of him, he quickly made a dozen hand seals and took a deep breath inwards,

"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Breath Technique)" a huge, blazing hot jet stream of fire spout from his mouth and completely surrounded the now screaming ninja attached to the tree.

As the screams finally stopped, Sasuke began to smirk and dropped the technique. However soon he hear an almost ominous chuckle escape what appeared to be a burnt and charred corpse,

"Kukukuku… You're much stronger than even that girl was Sasuke-kun, I have no doubt in your abilities"

Sasuke watched in ill-disguised surprise as the burnt flesh slowly fell away to reveal a man with purple markings under his eyes. The man's body slithered from his wire entrapment came to rest immediately in front of the Uchiha.

"So first…" The man sprung forward and landed a heavy blow to the Uchiha's stomach, knocking him back and rendering him defenseless.

"The gift" said the man as he stood in front of Sasuke. Suddenly his neck extended well past what any normal persons should, and his mouth clamped down hard on the Uchiha's left shoulder.

After a second the man retracted his neck,

"And now the message,"

_I can free you from this Hell and misery_

_You should never be ashamed my child_

_I can give you power beyond anything_

_Trust me, you will be the chosen on_e

The man knelt down next to Sasuke, who had fallen to the ground clutching his shoulder in pain.

"My name is Orochimaru, when you are ready, I will come back for you, and you will become what you were meant to be"

With those words, the man disappeared, and Sasuke began to slip into the sweet state of unconsciousness.

--

After several minutes, Sakura slowly made her way over to Sasuke, she knelt down beside him and quickly checked for a pulse. Luckily he still had a strong pulse, but his breathing was a little labored. Quickly checking him over, she couldn't find anything wrong with him beside a bruise his neck and stomach. She walked over to where her other teammate was located and quickly checked up on him as well. Sai appeared to have a mild concussion, but he was still breathing.

She slowly shouldered Sai and carried him over to where Sasuke was laying. Setting him down she dug through Sasuke's coat until she found the small map he had out earlier. On one spot not far from here, she found a spot that they had planned to use as a shelter if need be.

She took out her sword and cut a few branches, making a makeshift sled that she loaded both of her teammates onto. Once complete she began the long trudge towards the marked shelter.

--

Naruto was surprised by how the events had unfolded; first because of the extreme skill that all three of the 'genin' had shown in the battles, but mostly at the fact that Orochimaru had infiltrated the Leaf and attacked said genin in an exam.

He turned towards Haku,

"We're not leaving Sakura out here alone Haku-chan. I owe her as much as to at least keep watch over them until her teammates awaken, only then we'll leave to find either Leporello and Orpheo."

Haku nodded in agreement, she understood that Naruto still felt obligated to help his friend, even if it meant also helping his enemy. He had done it for her, so she could not in good conscious berate him for helping Sakura as well.

The both began silently following Sakura out of the field towards wherever she was heading. Naruto would be willing to bet that she were heading towards the trees he saw earlier who's roots had long since been eroded out to form small wooden caves.

Not long after they left, he found himself sitting in the canopy of a tree far above where Sakura and her team were resting. Below he could see his old teammate taking care of both of her teammates as well as setting a few traps around the area. The traps were a little crude and ill disguised, but traps had never been her strongest point.

For an entire day Sakura stayed vigilante over her two teammates. Sai had developed a rather large dark blue bruise on his head where the log had struck him, but otherwise was still healthy.

Sasuke though had become feverish, and had taken to sweating a great deal, which worried Sakura, because he was unconscious she would not be able to get him to drink, so he would eventually become very dehydrated if this continued. She tried to keep him as cool as possible by removing his jacket and keeping a cold compress on his forehead and on the back of his neck, but they didn't seem to really be helping all that much.

On the third morning of the exam, Naruto and Haku noticed a team of 3 Sound-nin approach the small encampment quietly. They seemed to be watching Sakura as closely as possible, most likely trying to determine the best time to strike.

Naruto watched over them closely. Given the display of her battle he saw the other day, he had no doubt that if she were in prime condition that she would be fully capable of destroying them, but now she had been awake for near seventy-two hours, and was still injured from her fight with Orochimaru the previous day.

Near nightfall on the third day, the three sound-nin jumped into the small clearing, setting off the several traps that Sakura had set. Several kunai and shuriken were sent flying, and a giant log fell down on top of them, but both were instantly either blocked with wind, or destroyed by the hunchbacked guys arms.

Naruto watched closely as the three approached Sakura,

"We're here for the Uchiha, let us have him, and maybe we'll let you live"

Spouted a cocky looking kid in front, the bandaged man shook his head and lightly palmed his face.

"Be quiet Zaku, I am in charge of this mission, and you would do well to remember that"

The young teen, now known as Zaku laughed,

"Shut up Dosu. We both no that your no more in charge than Kin is" He said as he absent mindedly pointed over his shoulder.

Sakura walked out from the cave,

"My name is Joshin no Chinoumi, and if you have any care for your lives, you should flee now."

She began to channel chakra, her eyes taking on the blood red appearance and her hair fanning out behind her. Soon the forest floor was once again the blood red lake.

The girl named Kin, shuddered,

"He was right, you are a creepy bitch"

As soon as she finished that line, the bandaged man known as Dosu rushed forward and threw a heavy punch straight towards Sakura's chest from the side. Sakura quickly brought up the blade to try and cut off the arm, but just as the blade pierced the coat that Dosu was wearing, an incredibly loud ringing noise filled her ears. She dropped to the ground, her genjutsu dropping around her.

Dosu smiled beneath his bandaged face,

"My melody are is made out of some of the hardest metal in existence, no sword has ever been able to cut through it"

He reeled back his arm in preparation to kill the girl in front of him, but quickly stopped as a thick black mist began to rapidly flood the area. Dosu turned back to Kin,

"Kin cancel this worthless genjutsu"

Kin made the ram sign and yelled "Kai" but to no avail

Out of the darkness came a cold calm voice,

"Kaguroi Kiri no Jutsu (Deep Black Mist technique)" both Dosu and Kin spun around as they heard a loud blood curdling scream from behind them. Suddenly Zaku came stumbling into their very limited sight, desperately holding onto the stump that was his left arm just moments before. The teenager was obviously distraught as he began yelling,

"Death has come for us!" He looked like he was going to say more, but suddenly the blade of a silver scythe cut deep into his other arm, shattering the bone and rendering him unconscious.

Dosu brought up his arms and readied himself for attack. He could sense Kin beside him bring out several of her senbon needles that she used in her genjutsu.

Soon out of the mist walked a man, slightly taller than the were, pale gold hair hung straight down around his smooth face, several lines extending down across his cheeks. He wore a large black cloak with a small red flower on the front. In his right hand he bore a large silver scythe.

"You have been judged, and by your madness I condemn you" was all the man said, but his subtle movements had set deep fear in both Kin and Dosu.

Kin looked up and made eye contact with the taller man, the fool she was. His eye's flashed menacing silver, before turning a sharp icy blue. Instantly the man was in front of her and drove the back of blade hard into her stomach, instantly knocking her unconscious, although the blade never broke the skin. In a desperate act of self-preservation their leader, Dosu pulled out a heaven scroll and began begging to the man in front of him.

"Please let us go. In return I offer you our scroll"

Naruto took the scroll,

"Leave from my sight"

He began to let the dense black fog dissipate as Dosu grabbed his teammates and began running away as fast as he could.

Naruto turned around to see Sakura staring at him; he took the scroll and tossed it to the ground in front of her. After that, think black fog reappeared and by the time that too had faded, Naruto was long gone.

Sakura however stared at the spot for several minutes,

"Naruto-kun…" was all that escaped her lips.

--

Ok, so last chapter I made a comment saying that they were 13 and 14 so nothing too drastic would happen between them. Ironically a day or two after I posted that I was sent a link to a newspaper in England that was featuring a story about a pair of 13 and I think 15 year old kids that had a baby, so apparently I was wrong, but in any case, Naruto and Haku won't be doing anything like that.

With that out of the way, I sorry that this chapter started with such a long dialogue between Naruto and Amarius, but I really wanted to start explaining my theories on the creation jutsu's and how some of the stuff I plan on using in this story works. I'm fairly sure I've made mention in the past that I am an engineering student, and as such I am almost guaranteed to be somewhat of a nerd, and as a result I happen to find the ten dimensions to be highly interesting.

This chapter was just around 11k long, so not my longest, but still nothing too bad. I want to thank a couple of my readers, in particular Dragoon-zerox, who has given me some of the best feedback I could ask for on my story. Also to Shindaiyo, Kusasi, untamabledragon144, fraveth and all the other readers who have left me all the reviews and encouraged me to keep writing.

I have a calculus and surveying exam tomorrow, a civil engineering computer applications exam on Wednesday, a Process geomorphology exam on Thursday, and I have my ski patrol final scenarios exams on Saturday, and of course I spent a good portion of the last couple days trying to finish this chapter, so I hope you all appreciate the effort and if I fail the exams, well then I blame you.

Till next time, please review,

Mechen Manachewagan


	10. Chapter 10 Twilight and Evening Bell

"You had one job, infiltrate the leaf and wait for the invasion… So what the HELL were you doing FROLICKING through the SECOND EXAM!"

Naruto cringed; to say that Orpheo was upset would be the understatement of the century. After He and Haku had returned to their hotel after being in the forest for near three days, they found Orpheo who was absolutely beside himself. Apparently the first day they disappeared, rumors swept through the shinobi ranks that a powerful enemy had infiltrated the exam and that an entire squad of Black Ops Anbu were in pursuit. The obvious misunderstanding had led to Leporello and another ancient named Dante combing all of the forest to try to recover the two young teens.

"From today on Dante is going to be staying with you all day, every day until this is over so you don't go off gallivanting whenever you feel like it, do you understand?"

Naruto nodded his head,

"But I got information saying to follow them"

Naruto suddenly felt very small as Orpheo glared at them,

"You don't get it do you Naruto. According to Konoha, you are dead. If you were to be discovered all hell would break loose, and we would lose any edge we have gained over Titus"

Naruto was beginning to feel rather frustrated,

"And how was I supposed to know any of that, you guys don't tell me anything other than I have to fight him. I don't know who he is, what happened between us or anything!"

By the end, Naruto was yelling at Orpheo,

"You expect me to train and work like a mindless soldier day after day, but I don't even know what I'm fighting for!"

Orpheo stared hard at the young blonde,

"You're fighting for your free will, nothing more, nothing less"

Orpheo turned and began walking away,

"If you want a better answer than that, talk to Amarius, but until Dante and Leporello return, you are to stay in this room."

Naruto stared at the door after Orpheo had left; Haku was sitting oddly quietly in a chair behind him,

"Our free will?"

--

Sooner than he would of appreciated, Naruto found himself in front of an extremely disappointed Amarius.

"You couldn't of at least asked one of us before you go off could you? Honestly Naruto, you need to think things through more thoroughly. That Orochimaru would of absolutely torn you and Haku to shreds had he not been preoccupied with Sakura and Sasuke."

Naruto hung his head in shame.

"I wouldn't have gone, but that damn old monk said it was important…"

At those words he saw Amarius's eyebrow rise up a few centimeters,

"An old monk? He wasn't dressed in Taoist robes and looks to be completely blind by chance does he?"

Naruto looked up at Amarius,

"Yeah that's him, why?"

Amarius actually burst out laughing,

"That meddling old coot is still around? I would've figured his old ass would of turned to dust by now. I guess I can't really blame you if you went after he told you to go. That old man doesn't show up for just anything, so anything he says is important, you better believe it."

Seeing that Amarius was considerably more calm than he was when Naruto first arrived, Naruto decided to try to press his luck and get some information on who the old monk actually was.

"So who is that old monk anyways?"

Amarius stared at Naruto for a second before responding,

"Well, when I first met him he was only a child, but that was millennia ago. He's what is called an exousia in an ancient tongue. I fear that is all that I can tell you about where he comes from at the moment, but since the day of his creation, his sole responsibility has been to keep the history of this timeline."

Naruto frowned; he had been hoping to get more information about the man that what he had received. In essence all Amarius had told him, is that the monk is just an old historian.

"So what is the old man's name?"

Amarius thought for a second,

"Come to think of it, I doubt he was ever given a name."

Naruto got a confused look on his face,

"How does he not have a name, everyone is given a name. How else would people know who you are?"

Amarius looked thoughtful for a moment,

"An interesting truth in the universe is that not all things are meant to be remembered. In fact most things were created to serve a purpose, and then merely fade away. Just like that old monk for instance"

Naruto looked confused, so Amarius continued on,

"For instance, what was the name of your Shodaime Hokage?"

Naruto scratched his head,

"Umm… It was Senju something or another I don't really remember"

Amarius nodded, a now familiar table and chairs appeared in front of them, along with the pot of tea steeping in the center.

"And what did the Shodaime Hokage do?"

Naruto smiled,

"That's easy, he founded Konoha, defeated a bunch of really powerful enemies in the first war and he could control wood, he made all the really big forests that surround Konoha."

Amarius nodded again,

"And that is precisely my point. You can remember all the stuff that he did, and the world will for a very long time, but you cannot remember his name at all. So consider this as your lesson for this evening, 'In the end it will not matter who you were, all that will matter is what you have left behind'"

Naruto nodded,

"Still, I don't think that it's right for someone to not have a name."

Amarius shrugged,

"Names are things that mortal man came up with to define everything around them. There are those that exist in this universe, that names mean nothing, because they already understand that names have no meaning"

Naruto frowned before Amarius continued,

"A difference of opinion I suppose."

Naruto shrugged,

"How would you feel if you didn't have a name, Amarius?"

Amarius shrugged,

"I went a very long time without one Naruto, it wasn't until the start of this whole debacle that we're caught in, that I was given my first name"

Naruto looked a little confused,

"Your first name?"

Amarius laughed,

"You forget that I have existed for an incredibly long time, and that in almost every age I have been given a new name."

Naruto sighed,

"So more or less all this was about is that names are meaningless?"

Amarius poured some of the now ready tea,

"Not necessarily, there are names that are given to a few, that are meant to be remembered. However that is once again a lesson for another night. Tonight go and rest, I'm sure Orpheo will have someone watching over you from now on."

Naruto nodded,

"Yeah some other Ancient, someone called Dante"

Amarius smiled,

"So its Dante who gets stuck with you then. He was always an interesting fellow"

Naruto raised an eyebrow,

"How so?"

Amarius smiled,

"You'll see"

--

Somewhere deep in the forest of death Leporello and Dante were hiding outside the small area where Sakura was watching over Sasuke and the now conscious Sai. Sai had woken up sometime between the hours from when Naruto had left and they had arrived.

"Why are we still waiting here Dante? We got the message from Orpheo saying that Naruto and Haku are with him"

The orange haired man, who's nose, lips and ears all had numerous piercings replied,

"I have a feeling that Naruto had a very good reason for following Sasuke out into this forest, but I need to wait until he regains consciousness to be sure"

Leporello looked down at the kids again,

"What do you think happened to him?"

Dante sighed,

"I sensed a man named Orochimaru leaving the forest when we first arrived. At first I thought nothing of it, because we know he's among the group that is attacking. However I also know that he has some thrice-damned immortality technique that allows him to take over a person's body, but that it needs to have a cursed seal placed on it before he can transfer. I would be willing to bet that the reason Sasuke has been unconscious for so long is that Orochimaru put his seal on him"

Leporello looked at the child far below with mild interest,

"So how does the seal work?

Dante thought for a moment,

"Well the thing is that, technically it should not be possible. For a seal such as that one to work he would need to be able to split his soul to take it. However he should not be able to do that. The thing that strikes me most odd though is that the seal that Sasuke is wearing, does not appear to have any sort of soul trapped in it"

Leporello looked at him with a rather confused look on his face,

"So your telling me that whatever Sasuke has on him isn't some sort of 'I'm-going-to-take-over-your-body-so-I-can-live-forever' type of seal"

Dante shook his head,

"No, as far as I can tell from here, it isn't the type that would hold a soul."

Leporello looked back at the three young teens,

"So what does it do then?"

Dante shook his head,

"I honestly don't know, I have never seen a seal such as that one. It is far more detailed than even the one that holds the Kyuubi inside of Naruto"

Leporello's eyes widened at the idea of the seal being so powerful,

"So I suppose we just have to wait for the kid to wake up then don't we?"

-- (Inside of Sasuke's head)

Sasuke was sitting in absolute darkness, he could hear nothing, see nothing, and feel nothing. In fact it seemed as if all of his senses had been somehow locked. At first he believed it to be some sort of genjutsu, but he had been unable to break out of it.

It seemed like he had been alone for hours, just drifting in an infinite space, a profound darkness. Finally somewhere deep within the vast nothingness, he heard a deep and steady voice begin to talk to him quietly.

"Uchiha Sasuke… I can see you, trapped in the dark recesses of the void. Caught between the living and dead. Your life is failing you Sasuke, you can feel it. I offer you, a second chance…"

Sasuke chuckled evilly,

"I am Uchiha Sasuke, God would not allow me to die. I have not yet completed my goals and until they are finished, I will never die"

The scene in front of Sasuke changed from a dark inky blackness, into a sea of people. Thousands of ashen-faced men and women stared blankly at him.

"The graveyards are filled with important men, those who could not be spared, but were in the end. You are no more important than they ever were Uchiha."

Sasuke grew red in the face as he yelled,

"Your WRONG! I am the UCHIHA! God would never let me fall from the living!"

The voice began laughing at him.

"Do you really believe what your saying? Or could it be that brooding is part of your art? Are you but a moody defiance to all of life's tyrants? I can see your life is decaying, your sins they are weighing, and here you sit all alone in the dark.

I offer you as second chance Sasuke, for what goods a life that leaves nothing behind, not a thought or a dream that may echo in time."

Sasuke still hesitated to answer the voice, but he could feel it growing agitated by his delay in answering.

"Why is it that you act surprised that I have come here to be your guide? Why do you hesitate to follow me? You can feel death holding you, taking you under. Still you proclaim you are not prepared, that you have so much to do that you cannot be spared, but I warn you Uchiha, Death will pay no heed to your entreaties.

"Tell me Sasuke, do you still wait for your God and some symbol of your faith? You see, I can free your from this hell and misery. You should never be ashamed my son. I can give you power beyond anything. Trust me, you shall be my chosen one."

Sasuke was silent for a long time. It went against his better judgment to simply agree with a random voice that was talking to him a depthless void. As he lay there, he opted to see what information he could get out of this disembodied being.

"W do you want with me?"

There was a second of profound silence before the voice began talking,

"I was forgotten. A body scorned and broken, my soul rejected, tainted by blood. I was deemed beyond redemption, a sinner not worth saving. But I can lead you down the path and back to life. I can help you seek revenge and save yourself. Give you life for all eternity. All I ask is that you worship me."

The voice grew silent. Sasuke waited several minutes in an uneasy quiet. The voice had skirted around the question, never giving him an outright answer.

"Who are you?"

The voice responded after several seconds,

"In the shadows of the night, you never know what is real. In the darkness of your soul, I can see all your dreams and all your lies. I can see every dream that you've had and every act you regret. Even as you sit here, alone in the night, you can feel the inferno. All the while thinking of what is eternal. Is it the man or the moment, the act or the reason? These things you have pondered, while late in the night. So now you think of all that you've done, or have yet to begin. The man that you've become or the man that you've been.

You're caught in the waltz with the eternal dancers. But you are courted by death, and death isn't the answer.

So to you Uchiha Sasuke, I am your God of second chance. I will bring you back, and grant you power, the likes of which you could never of dreamed. The Earth will crumble at your feet. The weak will tremble merely at the mention of your name."

Sasuke grinned at the prospect of what this featureless voice was offering him. Finally the world would see him as it should. He would finally take the place that should be rightfully his.

"And all I ask in return, is that you fight for me" spoke the voice.

As his smile grew darker, his eyes lit with a spark of insanity,

"My soul is yours Dark Master, I will fight for you"

He didn't know where that line had come from; he had intended to just agree with the dark voice. But something deep inside him prompted that line, and with it, his fate was sealed.

Suddenly, he felt and explosion of pain from his left shoulder. The darkness around him finally broke and he could finally see the forests that surrounded him.

Power, like nothing he had ever felt before coursed through his veins. It was intoxicating, enthralling, and he even through the pain; he had never felt as strong as he did at this moment.

Standing up slowly, he could see both Sai and Sakura staring at him wide eyed. He smiled wickedly at the pair, his most devoted servants.

Without warning, he disappeared and reappeared in front of the entrance to their small rooted cave.

"We're being watched"

--

Leporello and Dante felt the power long before Sasuke had ever awoken. They could see the seal slowly begin to glow a hideous purple on the child skin, its seals changing and convulsing, as if it were a living thing. After several minutes the child erupted with power. Instantly he regained consciousness, and stood up. He seemed to stare in wonder for a moment before he appeared at the entrance to the cave. Even from far in the canopy where they were hiding they could hear him say,

"We're being watched"

Leporello jumped to his feet,

"Shit!"

Without warning, Sasuke had unleashed a huge wave of his dark chakra, the energy swept towards the two Ancients, completely uprooting the tree that they were hiding in. Leporello grabbed the slower Dante and began jumping away from the scene as quickly as he could. He did not wish to fight someone in such an open area, not when he was still was trying to stay hidden from the Anbu in the area.

Glancing behind him, he was surprised to see that the Uchiha had not given chase. Counting his blessings, Leporello made a mad sprint for the gates that surrounded the forest, he needed to get back quick, something in this game had just changed.

--

Sakura stared at Sasuke, the power rolled off of him. Even just standing close to him, she could feel her skin start to burn as if she had been in the sun for too long. The power he had, was unreal.

Sasuke slowly raised his arm and made a wide sweeping motion towards a large tree that was standing just across the entrance from their cave. The wave of chakra that he unleashed literally blocked out the sun. It was a dark purple and it moved forth with the strength of a tsunami. Once it made contact with the tree, it quickly uprooted it, and within seconds tree began to burn. Through the dense chakra and smoke she could see that many other tree's behind the first had fallen to a similar fate.

Looking back to Sasuke she was surprised to see him on one knee, panting deeply, as if he had just ran a very long way. She walked slowly up to him,

"Sasuke-sama, are you ok?"

Sasuke just grunted,

"We're leaving"

As Sakura watched him, Sasuke glanced up at her. His eyes were darker, what had once been a black pupil, now resembled an endless void. Cold and uncaring, they held no pity in them.

She couldn't help but find herself thinking,

'Those eyes don't belong on a human'

--

When Naruto woke back up from his slumber, he could hear several hushed voices talking in the room. Sitting up he could see that Haku was still asleep on the other bed, but three dark figures sat around the small table talking.

"Whatever seal that was, it gave him an absolutely unreal power. The wave of chakra he unleashed would have been enough to destroy almost anything."

Naruto sat very still, wanting to hear as much as he could. He assumed that this conversation was not really for him to hear. The man who as talking, looked to be Leporello, given the silhouette from the dim candlelight. A second figure, a man he didn't recognize, started talking,

"Its true that the power was astounding, but there was a distinct lack of control to it. Had it been harnessed it would of pressed us to do more than just run away. I would assume that the seal somehow bypasses the celestial gates and allows the user so instantly access all of his chakra"

The third man, Orpheo, whose face Naruto could dimly make out began talking,

"Its possible but unlikely, unleashing the gates can cause large quantities of damage to the body. Sasuke wasn't starting to become strained like the users of the celestial gates, which means that his were still closed. Plus forcibly opening the gates is likely to kill you"

The man Naruto didn't recognize began talking again,

"On top of that there already exists a seal that is supposed to do that, and comparing the seal I saw on Sasuke to that seal, would be akin to comparing arithmetic to multiple variable calculus"

Leporello nodded,

"So if it doesn't draw power from the gates, then where did all that power come from?"

The unknown one nodded his head,

"Well that's why I don't think it's Orochimaru's curse seal. Because his seal draws chakra from the gates and corrupts it. This one was a lot more complex. It may have been a seal that causes the body to burn more calories and thus produce more chakra, similar to what the Akimichi use, but even that would not account for how fast he was able to gather the chakra"

Orpheo looked up,

"What if the seal was drawing power from something else?"

The unknown man was about to comment, but Leporello held up a hand,

"It seems that Naruto-kun has woken up from his nap. We will continue this conversation at a later time."

The other two nodded their heads and turned towards Naruto. Orpheo walked over to him,

"It seems something has happened to your old team, they have safely arrived at the tower, but whatever seal you saw Orochimaru place on Sasuke has given him some incredible and unbridled power. We will keep an eye on him for now, but you and Haku will return to your performances. Dante here," He points to the shorter man with spike orange hair and numerous piercings "Will watch over you two to make sure you don't do anything else that could be considered foolish"

Naruto grumbled and laid back down on the small bed,

"It wasn't foolish…"

As he rolled over, he could have sworn he saw a small smile of mirth playing across Haku's face.

--

Deep in the forest, Team Sasuke had reached the tower checkpoint for the second exam. As the approached the door, Sasuke turned to face his two servants.

"You will not mention to anyone what happened in the forest these past several days. If anyone asks, Sai was knocked unconscious from an attack and we were forced to rest while he recovered"

Seeing a nod of acceptance from both of his minions he turned around and opened the door that led into the tower. Upon entrance, he pulled both scrolls out of his kunai pouch and threw them to the ground.

He saw that they were summoning something, but he didn't care. He just walked past and continued towards the rooms that were situated on the upper levels of the tower.

Sakura and Sai however stayed to greet whatever was being summoned out of the two scrolls.

After the small puff of smoke, which occurred with almost every summoning, disappeared, the were face to face with a rather tired looking Iruka.

"Sakura? I haven't seen you in almost a year now. Congratulations on passing the second part of the exam!"

Iruka had a big smile on his face, to his dismay though it was not being returned by either of the two genin in front of him. The third genin had already left, presumably on his way to the dorms.

Sakura sighed,

"Its Joshin no Chinoumi now Iruka-sensei, and if that is all, we would like to rest before the exam ends tomorrow"

Iruka's smile dropped,

"I'd heard that you were going by a different name now, but I never imagined that you would be the one they are calling the Joshin no Chinoumi"

Iruka appeared to be lost in deep thought as he just stared past his old student. Sensing that he wasn't going to say anything else Sakura turned around and began walking towards the door that Sasuke had disappeared through a minute before. As she walked past Iruka she heard him quietly say,

"Naruto wouldn't of wanted it to be like this"

Sakura stopped, but didn't turn to face the man. She kept her eyes straight ahead as she spoke,

"Perhaps not, but Naruto is dead, and you would do well to remember as much"

Sakura brushed past her old sensei and quickly disappeared out the door, Sai walked up to Iruka and place a hand on the larger mans shoulder.

"It would be wise of you to not anger Joshin no Chinoumi. She has found a purpose for her life. Are so lucky as to say the same about yours Iruka-san?"

Without waiting for a response, Sai followed Sakura out the door, letting it close in his wake. Leaving Iruka standing alone in the middle of the room, staring at the door, wondering what ever happened to the cheerful children he had been teaching not long ago.

--

Sasuke was slowly making his way towards the center of the building. Danzo had brought he and his team out here several weeks ago for training, so he was already well acquainted with the tower. Rounding the final corner, he found himself face to face with a strange looking red haired boy. Stopping abruptly, he quickly eyed over the person standing in front of him.

He was a little taller than Sasuke, but was rather slim, as if he didn't exercise as much as a standard shinobi. He was wearing the normal black sandals and pants, and his shirt was a short-sleeved black shirt with short fishnet arms. Overall he would of looked like any other normal shinobi, had it not been for three key differences. First and foremost, he had a monstrous gourd on his back. Then there was the red tattoo above his left eye that read, "Love". But the most distressing thing about him was his eyes. They were surrounded by black, and the teal iris seemed cold, like the nightfall over a desert.

Who ever this person was, he was not one to be trifled with. However, Sasuke had the home field advantage, and opted to try to save face by intimidating the young man. Sasuke sneered,

"You're in my way"

The strange red head didn't move, he just stared at Sasuke,

"You are strange… Mother doesn't want me to kill you…"

The boy seemed rather disheartened at the prospect of whatever it was he was talking about. He had a rather dazed look on his face, before he finally responded,

"I'm sorry, but may I know your name?"

Sasuke stared and was about to answer, when he heard Sai speak from behind him.

"I do not know about Suna, but in Konoha it is considered a common courtesy to offer your own name before requesting another persons"

The red head nodded and turned to address Sasuke,

"My name is Subaka no Gaara"

Sasuke nodded,

"I am Uchiha Sasuke, and behind me is Sai"

The red headed boy nodded his head, as if committing the names to memory,

'Sasuke… My mother bows to the man named Sasuke…'

--

Naruto and Haku sat quietly in front of the younger looking man named Dante. Apparently he had been left completely in charge of them since Leporello and Orpheo went to tend to different matters. The strange man was far quieter than either of their two previous Ancients that had helped to train them, but unlike the others, this one seemed… different. Naruto was never able to specifically decide why Dante seemed different, but his very presence seemed to silence the world.

Like the other two Ancients that Naruto and Haku met in the past, Dante immediately took to training the young pair. Although, his training consisted less of throwing around techniques, and more reminiscent of the training Naruto had been receiving from Amarius.

Dante looked up from the small old manuscript he was reading silently from,

"Naruto, last week we talked about the theory of creating a technique based on mathematical equations. Explain to me the difference between a convergent and divergent equation based technique"

Naruto stared blankly at the wall, desperately trying to remember the lecture and readings that he had been assigned.

"Umm… All known techniques can be broken down into various equations. The mathematical representations of all equations include a variable, commonly labeled as x, to represent the amount of chakra placed into the technique. In most techniques, there is a limit to how much chakra can be forced into it. The limit can be calculated if you know the equation that was used in the techniques construction. However, there are techniques that exist the do not have a limit. The techniques are rare and are normally found in the department of techniques that fold the different dimensions."

Dante nodded his head,

"Good, I see that Amarius has already begun working on the different dimensions with you."

The orange haired man smiled,

"You have a performance tonight down in the bar district. Why don't you go find HaHHhsdHaku and get something to eat?"

Naruto stood up and began walking towards the door,

"What time tonight should I plan on being back here to make it to the performance in time?"

Dante, who already had is nose buried into a book, answered without looking up,

"Be ready to leave by 8"

Naruto nodded and looked at the clock mounted on the wall,

"So that gives us just around 4 hours…"

--

Naruto slowly made his way down the hallway from Dante's room, to the one that he was sharing with Haku. He had expected that Dante would just share a room with the two of them, but apparently the man wanted his own space.

Approaching the door, Naruto knocked lightly, just to be safe. Normally Haku would change in the bathroom, but he didn't want to accidentally walk in on the poor girl, so he always made sure to knock before he entered.

He waited a moment after knocking, but never heard a response. Slowly he opened the door and peeked inside. Haku was sitting in a light periwinkle blue yukata, meditating silently. A light breeze blew through the opened window, and parted the cloth curtains, letting the soft light of the evening play across Haku's soft features. Her dark, almost black hair hung loose, framing her pale face. As the breeze continued to flutter the curtains, Haku's eyes opened, and caught Naruto watching her.

"Sapho said you had come to see me again. Is Dante's lesson done already?"

Naruto nodded his head,

"He gave us the night off to go get something to eat before our next performance at 8"

Haku smiled and stood up,

"We're not going to that ramen stand again are we?"

Naruto put a small pouting expression on his face,

"What's wrong with Ichiraku Ramen? I could eat that every day…"

Haku giggled,

"And you have since we got here. I want to try something a little different for once."

Naruto sighed but admitted defeat.

"Fine… So where do you want to eat then?"

Haku walked over to the small closet and began digging through some of the dresses that were hanging up in it. As she dug through the contents she started talking again.

"When I lived with Zabuza, we used to go to a small restaurant that served really good sushi. I saw a small sushi bar not far from the fair grounds and I was hoping we could go to that one."

Naruto was about to respond when Haku cut him off,

"And put on some nice clothes, the sushi bar is a lot nicer than your ramen stand."

Naruto grimaced,

"Umm… Haku, I don't have any nice clothes besides the ones that we wear at performances."

Haku pulled her head out of the closet, a dark blue dress in hand,

"You never went shopping with the money that Leporello and Orpheo gave us for clothes?"

Naruto shook his head,

"I didn't see a point to… I never went anywhere nice anyways, so why spend the money on something I'd never use."

Haku stared pointedly at Naruto for several seconds. Her intuition told her he was trying to cover something up, but she wasn't sure what.

"Well then I guess we're going shopping first then."

Haku grabbed a small purse with one hand and Naruto's hand in the other and pulled him out the door before he had a chance to formulate a response.

As they ran down the hallway towards the open street, they ran past the room that Dante was using, the man looked up from his book briefly as the young pair ran past. Both of their faces were lit up with an obvious and contagious youthful joy.

A smile crept upon his face as he quoted,

How beautiful is youth! How bright it gleams

_With its illusions, aspirations, dreams!_

_Book of beginnings, Story without End,_

_Each maid a heroine, and each man a friend!_

"A quote from one of your old books I presume?"

Dante turned his head to see Orpheo leaning casually against an open window.

"It's from Longfellow's _Morituri Salutamus_ which is a Poem for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Class of 1825 at what was then Bowdoin College. I felt that it was an appropriate fit when I saw the two running down the hall hand in hand."

Orpheo nodded his head,

"Maybe, however I would say a quote from Thomas Cole better describes that pair."

Dante set down his book and raised an eyebrow in question,

"Oh and what would that be?"

Orpheo turned to look at the sun that was just beginning its dip towards the western skies.

"How lovely the portals of the night, when stars come out to watch the daylight die"

Dante nodded,

"Twilight and evening bell, and after that, the dark…"

--

High in a mountainous region just to the north of Konoha, Sasuke stood stoically in front of several masked Anbu soldiers.

'These men are nothing but mindless drones.' Was all that went through his mind as he quickly drew a straight double-edged sword that Kakashi had called a tsurugi.

In the back of his mind he could hear a dark voice whispering to him

"_**Do not mock the mindless, for what good is a leader if he has none to follow him. Instead embrace the fools, for a great blacksmith may be the one who forges the sword that changes the world, but without the mindless hammer that he wields, his dream will forever remain cold useless steel"**_

Sasuke heard the voice, but did his best to ignore it. His Master may teach him many things, but his timing was not always desirable, such as now for the moment.

Kakashi had insisted that he learn the art of swordplay while he was away on a short mission. His Master had insisted that if he were to learn to use a weapon then he would learn the art of a straight edge sword. His Master explained it to him succinctly,

"_**A shinobi lies in the darkness and waits for the best time to strike, however the sword is not the tool of a shinobi, it is one that was forged in the field of honorable battles between two warriors who took great pride in the skills that they possessed with the most ancient and noble of all weapons.**_

_**If you are to learn the most ancient art of the sword, you will not learn some bastardized version that you feeble mortals have created. You will learn the way that it was meant to be…"**_

Sasuke parried a blow from one of the masked enemies while simultaneously twisting around the blows of two others. His sharingan eye was spinning madly throughout the entirety of the battle. His father's journal told him,

"_A Uchiha's greatest weapon is his eyes. Knives in the dark and silent footfalls may be what a shinobi is known for, but it is not what defines us. A true shinobi causes discord to spread rampant through his enemy. The living are left dead in his wake. Thus the sharingan eye is the perfection of what a shinobi should be. It sees all and understands all that sees, and then turns it against the opponent, before the enemy has even finished formulating the idea in his own mind._

_That is why the only thing that can kill an Uchiha, is another Uchiha…"_

'My brother proved that statement true…'

Bringing his focus back onto the fight, Sasuke quickly began dismantling his enemies. The spar had lasted several minutes, but the true fighting was brief. He had no use of the Anbu other than to absorb all that he could, then eliminate them.

When all the Anbu where down and unconscious, he slid his sword silently back into the sheath on his waist and began walking away. He had more important training to attend to than fighting pitiful whelps.

As he leapt off he cliff, he quickly unsheathed his sword and let loose a large wave of chakra that crashed against the rock, as a tsunami might along a shoreline.

Deep inside his mind he could hear his Master,

"Good Sasuke, your talent with my power is growing by leaps and bounds. Soon you will be ready for greater things"

'I am starting to grow weary of this pointless waiting game. You promised the power to be able to forge my dream. When am I going to see what you have promised?' Sasuke said the voice that had taken residence in his own mind.

The voice chuckled,

"Such vigor for power… Don't worry; my greatest soldiers are coming to you as we speak. By the time the first hammer fall descends on this world, the first will already be at your side…"

--

Naruto and Haku were walking down a small section of Konoha's downtown district that was almost solely devoted clothing stores. Naruto was trying desperately hard to hold in a groan of boredom while Haku gleefully dragged him from one store to the next picking out various outfits that she felt looked good on him.

Haku was mumbling incoherently about some shirt she just bought him as they walked hand in hand down the relatively quiet road.

"There's one more store that I want to stop in before we go to dinner ok Naruto-kun?" Haku asked sweetly.

Naruto suppressed another sigh that was fighting as he nodded his head and Haku dragged him into one more store. Inside the store were various trinkets and jewelry.

Haku was already at the counter looking at each piece inside the glass display cases. She sighed,

"It must be nice to be able to afford things like these…" She was staring pointedly at a pair of sapphire earrings that dangled on an intricate piece of twisted silver.

Sighing she straightened, "Well, anyways we need to get you a black belt to match the pants that you picked out at the last shop"

Naruto laughed,

"That I picked out?"

Haku blushed lightly,

"Ok so the pants that I told you to buy, but either way you need a belt to match them."

She strode away towards the back of the store where the belts were located, Naruto stopped briefly at the counter to take a slightly closer look at the earrings that he saw sitting in case. Feeling his pocket he took a quick mental inventory of his remaining money.

Looking back towards Haku he sighed with a small smile,

"Ahh what the hell, not like I have any other use for the money…"

--

Deep inside the confines of the hidden ROOT headquarters, Sakura was parting ways with her team. They had an entire level of the subterranean fortress to themselves, something no other team could lay claim to. Of course Sasuke's room was far more lavishly designed than hers, but her own was still much better than Sai's room, which was utterly spartan, save a few drawings that littered the floor and walls.

Noiselessly, she made her way down the dark hallway towards the sanctuary of her own room. No one dared to venture into the territory of Joshin no Chinoumi; already word of her prowess had begun to spread into the ranks of the Konoha ninja. She was not an elite yet, but it would not be long before even jounin began to bow before her and her team.

With a sigh, she closed her door, and locked it with a seal. Flicking on a small incandescent light, she walked across the room. As she went, she removed her sword from the confines of her obi and placed it on an ornate sword holder that was situated on a small altar near her fireplace.

Her room was her only bastion of solace left in her life. It was an unwritten rule that no one besides her team ever stop on this level of the compound, and even within her own team, no one ever intruded into another members apartment unless invited.

She giggled lightly to herself,

'As if Sasuke would ever invite anyone into his apartment anyways'

She shed her pink obi and white kimono and changed into a more comfortable pair of pajama pants and an older t-shirt. She may be an extremely deadly kunoichi, but she was still a young teenage girl.

Settling down at a small desk in the corner, she pulled out a small leather bound diary that she had begun keeping just before she became a genin. Slowly but surely, she began recounting the day's activities, what she had learned, who she had injured. If it was of importance, she wrote it down in the diary.

Well, she wrote down _almost_ everything. She was not foolish enough to believe that Danzo and his goons never entered her room while she was away. So she made certain that even her diary never contained anything that they may find… disconcerting…

She sat there for near an hour, slowly writing while munching on a small box of pocky. Finally as she came to a conclusion, she closed the diary, and placed it back into the drawer.

Without turning around, she calmly asked,

"So how long do you plan on sitting there waiting for me to take notice of you?"

A light chuckle echoed from behind her. She had known he was there since he mysteriously appeared over a half hour earlier.

"Your getting better Sakura, or should I call you Joshin no Chinoumi nowadays?"

Sakura grimaced and turned around. As she expected the old monk was sitting contentedly on the floor of her room staring absentmindedly at her.

"You have nothing better to do than sneak up on me do you?"

The old monk laughed openly,

"Of course not. I always find time to spend with those who are willing to listen"

Sakura sighed, all she had wanted to do was go to her apartment, write in her diary, take a shower, and go to bed. However it appeared as if this doddering old fool had a different agenda in mind.

"I don't know why I put up with you" she quipped, "Every time you appear, something inevitably happens, and most of the time it only makes my meager existence more miserable"

The smile left the old man's face,

"Unfortunately that is my role in this long winded story. I am only here to pass on the information. Regardless, I have come for a reason"

Sakura scoffed,

"No doubt you've managed to drag trouble with you as usual?"

The man sighed,

"Has it not occurred to you, that I only appear because trouble is already here and you just haven't taken notice of it yet?"

Standing up, he slowly made his way over towards Sakura,

"You saw Naruto in the forest of death didn't you"

Sakura's eyes widened, how could this man possibly known. She had told no one what had transpired between her and the sound team that had attacked her team.

She narrowed her eye's and stared at the man,

"How did you come to hear about that?"

The man laughed despite of the killer intent that was beginning to radiate of the young girl.

"It doesn't matter how I know. What matters is that now that you know that Naruto is alive, what are you planning on doing with that information?"

Sakura stared at the floor,

"I have not forgotten what transpired that day on the bridge. It still haunts my sleep."

The old man nodded solemnly,

"I do not doubt that it does."

After finishing his sentence he stared very closely at the girl in front of him. Despite knowing everything about the girl she was still very much an enigma to him.

"You are an interesting person, do you know that? Very few people could do what you are destined for"

Sakura shook her head,

"I don't believe in anything as useless as destiny or fate"

The old stared deeply at her before mumbling quietly,

"Pity…"

With that he disappeared without a trace. Sakura jumped to her feet, as she heard a knock at the door.

In five quick steps she had crossed the room and opened the door, only to find a rather tired looking Sasuke and Sai standing there.

"We have business to attend to in Konoha, gather your equipment and meet us at the gate in twenty minutes"

Sakura stared at Sasuke after he finished giving her the orders.

"What is so important that we cannot possibly wait till morning?"

Sasuke let a dark smirk slip past his ever-stoic mask,

"Danzo didn't tell me any specifics, but I have to meet with a new friend. We only have a week left before the tournament, so this needs to be taken care of now"

With that Sasuke began walking down the hall towards the direction of his small personal armory. Sai remained behind staring at her intently.

"Joshin, be ready to fight in more than just a tournament, soon we will be ready to reshape the world"

Sakura closed her door and walked over to where her discarded kimono lay.

'So much for a peaceful night…"

--

Haku and Naruto had just returned from their short shopping excursion. Naruto ran to their room and quickly changed into what Haku called, "Appropriate attire" so that they could finally go eat.

Haku had left ahead of him to go get reservations at the restaurant, which left Naruto to his own devices while she was away. Entering the room quickly, he tossed his purchases on the bed and ran into the bathroom to clean up.

He desperately attempted to comb his slightly unruly hair, brushed his teeth and took a quick shower, before changing into his new clothes.

Within twenty minutes of arriving, he quickly left the building to meet up with Haku. Running down the street, he never noticed the small group of ninja jump overhead.

--

Sasuke was leading his small group back into the heart of Konoha. They leapt silently from building to building. Sasuke had his Sharingan blazing; he had fallen into the habit of using it constantly as a way to increase his chakra supply.

As he leapt over a small hotel, his sharingan eye caught sight of the musician he had eaten dinner with several weeks prior. He thought it was strange that his eyes focused on the musician. His sharingan eye only showed him what was pertinent. Looking closely as he passed over him, his eyes caught something very peculiar.

'Are those whiskers on his face?'

Stopping suddenly he raised his hand in a fist to signal for his team to halt. Turning around he looked at Sai,

"Sai, I need you to go contact Kakashi immediately."

Sai nodded and quickly began sprinting towards Kakashi's place of residence.

"It seems as though our plans for tonight have once again changed Joshin…"

--

Naruto and Haku were walking hand in hand down the street towards whatever restaurant Haku had picked out. Naruto had only left the hotel five minutes earlier, but Haku doubled back after making the reservations to meet up with him.

Haku leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder.

"We're being followed"

Naruto laughed, as if she had said some funny joke before responding quietly,

"I know, and whoever they are, they're good. Up ahead there is an alleyway. In a moment I want you to run into it, and I'll follow, but I want you to get away as fast as you can. Use your mirrors if necessary."

Haku nodded, seeing the intended alley just up the street,

"And what are you going to do?"

Naruto smiled and gave her a small poke in the ribs with his elbow,

"Don't worry, I have a plan"

Haku frowned lightly, but she stepped away as planned, giggling she ran into the alleyway. Naruto shook his head, trying to laugh to keep up appearances, before he chased in after her. He happily noted that by time he reached the alley, she had already disappeared completely.

Running down the narrow alley, Naruto found himself facing a dead end. Turning around he waited for whoever was following him. It didn't take long for them to show.

"It's funny Naruto, no matter how many times I try to kill you, you somehow always manage to bounce back."

Naruto's eyes turned cold as ice,

"What a pleasant surprise, Kakashi-sensei… Are you here to try again?"

Kakashi stepped out of the shadow, his hitai-ite already raised, exposing the spinning sharingan eye.

"Where is your companion, the girl you were with a moment ago?"

Naruto looked at him confused,

"You mean you honestly don't know. I understand that the idiot Sasuke missed it, but the sensei as well?"

Kakashi threw a kunai that just grazed Naruto's cheek and imbedded in the wall behind him. Obviously he was not in the mood for joking.

"It was a kage Bunshin you fool."

Kakashi stared at his face, trying to see if he was lying.

"You know Naruto, you may be stronger than before. But you're still nothing but a dead last."

In a blink of an eye, Kakashi we standing mere inches in front of him, staring him straight in the face.

"You didn't cover up your whiskers…"

Naruto grimaced as he recalled taking a shower earlier. His makeup was waterproof, but he had washed his face, scrubbing the makeup right off.

"So what are you going to do now? Try killing me again?"

Kakashi eye smiled,

"Of course not, we have something special in mind for you. But it's going to have to wait until the last part of the exams to start."

After he finished talking, Naruto felt a sharp blow to his neck, and then darkness claimed him.

--

Haku burst through the doors of Dante's room.

"Dante-sensei, they found…"

But she was cut off as Dante crossed the room so quickly that her eyes couldn't follow and covered her mouth with his hand and whispered

"Quiet you fool. Naruto gave himself up so that you could escape; don't ruin it by running around like a bat out of hell. We don't want any more attention attracted to us than necessary. Kakashi and his goons are more than intelligent enough to try to find the people that Naruto was associated with, so we need to disappear for a while."

Haku's eye's widened,

"But we have to save him!"

Dante shook his head,

"No we don't. Naruto already has an escape plan ready, what we need to do is trust him and go into hiding ourselves. We're already inside Konoha, so as long as we can stay hidden until the final part of the exams everything will still go to plan."

Haku nodded her head slowly,

"So where are we going to go?"

Dante smiled,

"There was a clan here that used to help us from the inside when we needed it. Do to unfortunate circumstances, they are no longer able to support us as they once did, but we may still be able to find sanctuary in their home. Gather what you can and meet me back here in 5 minutes."

Haku nodded her head; a few tears sliding silently down her face as she ran from the room towards her own.

Dante went over to the table to leave a note, but before he could even pick up the pen he heard the sound of feet landing on the roof above him.

Closing his eyes for a brief second, he thought,

'Twenty-five of them'

Opening his eyes, his image flickered and he appeared on the roof, just in front of 5 squads of Anbu, all bearing the symbol for root on the center of their mask. The ninja wasted no time in surrounding him.

"You have been found in the presence of one Uzumaki Naruto and have been deemed a threat to the peace. You may either come peacefully, or we will take you by force"

Despite them all wearing a masks, Dante still turned to face the one that had spoken to him, who was apparently the leader of the squad.

"You are merely the pawns of treacherous men. Your own soul has been all but stolen from you, please, allow me to offer at least a small sense of peace before you die in the upcoming wars."

Dante's chakra flared, well above what a normal jounin would be capable of producing so quickly. All twenty-five men ran towards him, in an attempt to kill him before he finished whatever technique he was gathering chakra for.

When the men were mere feet away from him, Dante looked straight into the leader's eyes and made a single hand sign that none of the men were familiar with.

"Gokurakuoujou no jutsu" (Rebirth in Paradise, or peaceful death)

The captain, mere inches from driving his sword into the Dante's heart suddenly stumbled. Where the man was once standing, was now nothing more than a large willow tree blowing lightly in the wind. The tree was situated in the center of a large field of flowing golden wheat, which was almost ready for fall harvest.

Hearing laughter behind him, he spun around quickly, ready to fight. Standing behind him was a young girl, no more than six years old

"Aniki? What are you doing, Kaa-san says that dinner is ready"

The younger girl grabbed his hand and began trying to pull him towards a small cottage on the edge of the forest.

"Come on Aniki! Kaa-son made your favorite food and you promised that you would take me swimming later"

Glancing down at the young girl, he saw his own arm as she started leading him across the field.

He KNEW that something was wrong. Where his arm had moments before been wrapped in gauze was a clean, but darkly tanned arm. Refocusing his attention on the girl he recognized her instantly, it was his younger sister.

'Impossible, she was killed over a decade ago when the Kyuubi crushed my home'

Looking up, he saw a slender woman with long auburn hair standing at the entryway of the small house,

"Come on Tenchi, you can practice your ninja stuff later. Its dinner time and your Tou-san just got back from Konoha"

He KNEW that this wasn't real. That his family was long since dead. Killed by the Kyuubi in its rampage across their land. And that he was raised by Danzo as a ninja with countless other orphaned children.

But for some reason he couldn't bring himself to care.

Scooping the younger girl up in his arms, he sprinted madly towards the door of the cabin. The young girl giggled with laughter as she hung on tightly to his arms, her face alight with laughter.

'I have my family back…' was the only thought going through his head as he ran back to his house.

--

An hour later, a small team of Anbu and several jounin stood on top of the hotel, looking down at twenty-five unconscious Anbu.

"Are they all dead?"

Asked the female jounin with red eyes. A nameless medic shook his head,

"No, as best as I can tell Kurenai-san they are all stuck in some sort of highly developed genjutsu that I cannot break"

Kurenai's interest peaked. Stepping forward she put a hand on the ninja's shoulder,

"Let me have a look at them. If its genjutsu I may have a better chance of fixing this than you"

The medic nodded his head and moved out of her way. Kneeling on one knee, Kurenai placed a hand on the forehead of the Anbu captain. Forcing chakra into his system.

'He's right' she thought, 'There is most definitely some sort of genjutsu here'

Probing the man's mind with as much chakra as she could, she attempted to force a foreign chakra out of the man's system. Her eye's widened in surprise and she immediately cut all chakra off as she stared at the unconscious victim.

"Impossible…" She muttered.

Asuma, who had been walking with her when they noticed the small gathering of Anbu on the roof looked down at her, a cigarette still burning in his mouth as he spoke.

"What did you find Kurenai?"

Kurenai shook her head,

"This isn't really a genjutsu as we thought. It's something similar, but as far as I know of, it's considered impossible."

Asuma looked at her, waiting for her continue,

"Like a genjutsu, someone forced their senses to do what they wanted them to, but that's where the similarities end. There is no foreign chakra in this man's system"

Asuma's eyes widened,

"That shouldn't be possible." Was all he responded with.

Kurenai stood up, but continued to watch the man in front of her,

"That's what I thought, but whoever used the technique somehow got the men's own chakra to fuel his technique"

Asuma looked back to the man lying on the ground,

"So what does that mean for the Anbu"

Kurenai sighed,

"I'm not entirely sure, but if they can't break out of their own free will, they will continue to fuel the technique that was used on them until finally their body gives out and passes on."

Asuma turned back to face her,

"So they will die?"

Kurenai nodded,

"Unless we keep them hooked up to feeding tubes for the rest of their life, they will die within several days, when their bodies run out of water."

Asuma paled,

"That's horrible, to die a slow painful death"

Kurenai shook her head,

"Slow yes, but not painful. Whatever is going on inside these men's heads though, they are definitely not in pain. If their electrical signals in their brain are any indicator, they are all… happy…"

Behind them they heard an Anbu with a bear mask comment,

"Then they are fortunate. Very few ninja's can ever pass away quietly and content in their sleep. If only we were all as fortunate"

Kurenai opened her mouth to comment on he rather morbid thought, but by the time she had turned to face him completely, he was already gone.

"Who was that?" She asked Asuma who shrugged his shoulders.

"No clue, probably another Anbu who's seen one to many people die"

--

Kakashi was staring at the unconscious form of Naruto, who lay on the floor of a rather familiar prison cell, deep in the underbelly of Konoha.

"Report" was all he said as an Anbu appeared next to him, kneeling on one knee.

"Unfortunately whoever was traveling with him was able to subdue the team and escaped. His current whereabouts are unknown."

Kakashi's only visible eye narrowed in frustration.

"You fools let them escape? I should of come personally"

The Anbu kept his head towards the ground,

"The entire team is currently located that the hospital. They are all stuck in some sort of perpetual genjutsu that we cannot break them out of."

Kakashi turned and began walking away from the useless Anbu.

"Report your findings to the Hokage. I have another snake to go hunt at the moment."

As he disappeared, the Anbu turned and disappeared, walking silently down the hallway that it came from. Leaving Naruto alone on the floor of the cell.

Naruto cracked open an eye.

'Good, Haku and Dante got away ok then.' Smiling a little despite the situation.

'Being captured may actually work out in our favor' sitting up ever so slightly, he listened very carefully for any sounds of a guard that he wasn't already aware of.

It was utterly silent.

'Perfect' he thought, as he began taking out a small piece of paper with a few simple seals on it out of a hidden pocket.

"Now I just have to wait…'

--

Dante was sitting a small dark room facing both Leporello and Orpheo. Haku had long since fallen asleep on a mattress in another room.

"So Naruto was captured?" asked Orpheo

Dante nodded his head,

"It appears so, but we already had a contingency plan, and we know that they won't do anything drastic to him until the final part of the exam."

Orpheo sat back in his chair as Leporello asked,

"Have we heard anything from Ramdas yet?"

Dante nodded his head,

"He is already in position, all we have to do is pray that Naruto's escape is successful and that we are ready for the final exams."

Leporello nodded his head in understanding.

"I'll take the east wall, Dante, you take the main southern entrance since that is where they will hit hardest and you can do the most good. Which leaves Orpheo with the west wall and the summons. Ramdas will take all that are in the town, which leaves Naruto and Haku to take care of whatever else may appear."

Dante leaned forward, switching the small lamp off.

"So now we wait a week for the final exams"

--

On top of a hotel, near the center of town Sasuke and Sakura stood staring at a bloodthirsty red head.

"I said do you understand?" asked Sasuke, his sharingan spinning madly as he glared at the person in front of him.

"Yes I understand. Don't worry, Mother and I will do exactly what you asked of us"

His eye's widened in a psychotic expression as he stared at the moon, waiting for the moment to come when he would complete his mission.

Sasuke turned and began leading Sakura away.

"He is only a tool Joshin, but he will prove to be rather useful I think…"

--

Miles away, deep in the forest of death, Kakashi was in hot pursuit of the man who attacked his genin team during the second exam. Having already captured Naruto, now he only had one more mission to complete.

Several teams were combing the forest looking for the Snake Sannin. The Hokage had placed a rather large bounty on the man's head several years back. So every hunter-nin in Konoha was trying to find the hiding man.

Spotting the obviously tired Sannin resting almost a hundred feet below him, Kakashi stopped and watched the man. After several moments he lifted the forehead protector off his eye and made a couple of hand signs. Clutching his right wrist with his left hand, he began to summon enormous amounts of chakra, as the chakra took form he jumped from his hiding place,

"Raikiri!"

--

Author's Notes

Wow, I'm really sorry that it took such a ridiculously long time to finish this chapter. Its been sitting at 5000 words for over 4 months, but this has been by far the most busy summer of my life. I was honestly working for over a hundred hours a week for the bulk of the summer.

Anyways, a short piece on Dante since he is one of my favorite characters that I've come up with.

Dante is named after Dante Alighieri the author of the epic poem called Dante's Divine Comedy. The book is written in three separate parts, Dante's Inferno (Hell), Dante's Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Dante's Paradiso (Heaven). The technique that he used in this chapter was the one fashioned after heaven. More or less what it does is puts the victim into a forced genjutsu that mimics that person's deepest desire. It's reserved for people that Dante knows he must fight, but doesn't really want to. He views it as a humane way to kill his opponents. His other techniques are not quite as easy going.

Well next time is the chuunin exam finals and all the fun that will come along with it. School starts again for me in a week, so wish me luck.

Until then,

Mechen Manachewagan


End file.
